Grief is a gift from God and can at times be the only appropriate response to a situation, according to Rick Warren.
Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church. His son Matthew committed suicide in 2013. He shared a devotional about grief based around Ecclesiastes 3.1,4:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens .... a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."
He prioritised debunking the myth that as a Christian you should always be happy, rather, as these verses suggest, "sometimes the only appropriate, logical response to life is grief."
"The Bible says you are to grieve over your losses, including your disappointments, your sin, the suffering in the world, and your friends who are spiritually lost."
Reframing grief from being something to be avoided, Warren suggested God "wants you to be intentional in your grief."
He encouraged those who struggle to face grief that, although it is painful, "it's a healthy and helpful emotion.
"And it's God's gift. It's the tool that God gives us to get through the transitions of life."
In order to move on from old grievances and avoid dragging the past into your present life and relationships, he said "you need to go back" and grieve. "Because if you don't grieve, you get stuck emotionally, and you spend the rest of your life reacting to something that happened a long time ago and taking it out on the people around you now."
Keen to avoid victim blaming, Warren said that although what happens to us is not our choice, we can choose to grieve and move forward.
"You've got to let yourself mourn the losses of life so that you can move on with your life and receive God's blessing."
