When Pain Clouds Your View: Fixing Your Eyes on Jesus in the Midst of Grief

There was a season when I couldn’t breathe without feeling the weight of grief pressing in.

When my eldest sister passed, it felt like the world as I knew it collapsed around me. I wasn’t just grieving the loss of my sister—I was aching for her two daughters, now in my custody. I ached for the silence where her laughter used to echo, for my family who was walking through the impossible.

Everything hurt.
I couldn’t see anything clearly.
I was focused on the pain—and understandably so.

The Fog of Grief

But in that fog, something else happened:
I lost sight of Him.

Not because He left, but because my eyes were fixed solely on the brokenness.

As a therapist, I knew about the stages of grief—about coping skills and healthy processing.

But pain doesn’t play by the rules.

And in my tunnel vision of sorrow, I couldn’t see the One who was still holding me.

Widening the Lens

Then, slowly and gently, I began to shift what I was seeing.
Not ignoring the grief, but widening the lens.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
—Psalm 27:13 (NIV)

I saw Him in hugs that didn’t need words.
I saw Him in the quiet strength that helped me rise for her girls when I didn’t know how to stand.
I saw Him in the courage it took to face three long, grueling court battles.

And over time, I saw—He hadn’t left me in the pain.
He was in it with me.

Fixing Our Eyes on What Is Unseen

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
—2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Friend, the hard reality is this: pain doesn’t vanish when we fix our eyes on Jesus.
But it becomes bearable—because we know we’re not bearing it alone.

You’re not alone in this valley.
Even when the pain clouds your view, He is near.
Keep lifting your eyes, even if it’s just one tearful glance at a time.
He’s in it with you—and He won’t let go.

A Prayer for the One Who’s Hurting

Jesus, You see the pain I carry—the tears I cry in the dark, the ache that words can’t reach. Help me lift my eyes to You, even when it hurts. Remind me that You’re still here, still faithful, still holding me. Shift my sight from only my pain to the presence of the One who redeems it. Amen.