Not every loss looks like grace when it happens. Some of them look like heartbreak. Some look like rejection, unanswered prayer, or a door closing at the worst possible moment. But there are things you are grieving right now that you will one day recognize as the kindest thing God ever did for you. This is a list for the in-between — for anyone still in the middle of a loss they have not yet seen the other side of.

Things You’ll One Day Call God’s Grace (That Feel Like Loss Now)

• the relationship that ended right when you thought it was finally working
• the job opportunity that didn’t come through

the version of your life you had to release

– Jacqueline Whitney

• the friendship that quietly faded without explanation
• the door you begged him to keep open that he closed anyway
• the version of your life you had to release
• the timeline that didn’t unfold the way you planned
• the dream that died so a better one could take its place
• the heartbreak that taught you what you’ll no longer accept
• the rejection that redirected you
• the season of waiting that felt like punishment
• the people who left right before your blessing arrived
• the answer that took years to come

• the closure you never got from someone who wasn’t ready to give it
• the chapter that ended before you were ready

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.