There are times in our lives when reality of sorrows and sadness overwhelms us. The contributing factors to the sadness may be of different faces but it's real. Can there be any purpose of God in the sadness of humans? Can there be any joy in the midst of turbulent trials and distress? This disease of depression can be deadly if the person has not found Christ as the solid foundation for his life.
The extreme emptiness that we feel in the early morning hours or in the midnight hours can numb the body and mind from functioning smoothly. I remember Pastor John Piper in one of his interviews, confessing that sometimes he just wept on his doorsteps for no good reason. And I resonate with him in some ways.
Does this necessarily mean that we (Christians) are hopelessly lost without hope? No. In the sadness of the soul, there seems to be more joy rather than in laughter. I fear that laughter does no good at times since it creates an atmosphere of pride, fun and merriment. It causes no serious thought to life and the sufferings of others.
Tears are a wonderful gift that the Lord has bestowed humans to express their emotions of pain and joy. The sadness of soul makes one to cry for a higher power to fill the void. A man in anguish realizes the sober reality of pain, death and separation. It points him to see a world better than this fading world. This world has nothing to offer him that makes him leap for ecstasy.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 utters, "Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all everyone dies--so the living should take this to heart (NLT). In other words, it's better to mourn than to laugh at the temporariness of life. After all, life is but a vapor and we live today but die the next moment.
Why should we live like the Epicureans, "Eat and drink for tomorrow we die"? We have a better hope and a better promise. We live not for the pleasures of the flesh but God. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). In a world torn by calamities and tragedies, we are called to participate in the sufferings of Christ (Rom. 8:17). In our sadness, Christ reminds us of the broken world in which we live in.
We learn to identify ourselves with the sufferings of our brothers and sisters as our own (as Christ did). We learn to put our comforts aside to comfort someone in need. We learn to weep for our own sins and the sins of our families. We learn to be sorrowful yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10). We learn to empathize with the grieving and lonely. We learn to embrace our weaknesses and failures knowing that this body is nothing but a temporary tent in which our souls reside (2 Corinthians 5:1).
The emotions of sadness apart from Christ is self-defeating. But with Christ, the grieving countenance will turn to joy. The pain we go through will give us strength to encourage people to rejoice in their pain and suffering. Why? Because this suffering no longer holds us captive. No, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
Prayer: Abba Father, you have made us for yourselves and in you alone we find our joy. May you fill us with eternal joys in the midst of our pain and distress. May our lives be mark with true sufferings for the sake of others as that of your Son Jesus Christ, amen.
