Everyone
feels sad at times. Some people feel sad more often or more deeply than others,
while some people appear not to experience much sadness. But we all know the
feeling and it is not pleasant.
I am
not writing here about depression, which is a very serious mental health
condition. From my own experience with depression in 2008-2009, I can say that
depression is the worst health problem I have ever had. It is being gripped in
one’s mind, soul and will by the strong clutches of an enemy called hopelessness.
It is often debilitating, and can be very dangerous, even life-threatening.
Sadness, while different from depression, may also be debilitating. But, on the
whole, sadness is not as deep or as long-lasting as depression.
We feel
sad for different reasons, at different times. Sometimes I feel sad about world
events and circumstances, or national and local issues. Human suffering can
tear me apart, and perhaps you as well. You may also experience sadness over
family matters, financial issues, your job or career, your appearance, your
church, your health, your marriage or some other relationship. Sometimes people
just feel an overall sense of sadness about themselves and their place in life.
While I
have thought about sadness and its opposite, gladness, for many years, I was
prompted to write on sadness for this posting because of a television program I
saw recently. It was a one-hour documentary on one of Adolf Hitler’s closest
associates, Heinrich Himmler, during Hitler’s ascendancy and reign of terror in
Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s. I have watched numerous such programs, but
because of the way this one ended I felt especially sad. After the commentator
spoke of the double suicide of Hitler and his new bride in Berlin, and the
deaths of Himmler and other key aides to Hitler, with pictures and melancholic
music for accompaniment, the program ended without further words.
The
cameras then simply panned slowly over the bombed city of Berlin, showing the
vast landscape of rubble. There were, in addition, ghastly pictures of
skeleton-like prisoners slowly emerging hollow-eyed from their prisons. The
eerie black and white photography and the mournful violins left me—after I
clicked off the television—with only the stillness and the blankness of my thoughts.
The simple thought then came to me: “and a great sadness settled over the whole
land.” I later thought of the first verse of the book of Lamentations written
after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. “How deserted lies the city, once so
full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!”
The
murderous reign of Hitler and his associates is one of the saddest accounts in
recorded history. There are many others—some on a major scale as mentioned
above, and some known only to a small group. The sufferings are just as real,
however, as are yours and mine. But, praise God, there is hope!
Today I
looked at a number of scriptures on sadness and sorrow and I offer them here
(from the NIV 2011) for your consideration and benefit.
Ecclesiastes 1:18. “With much wisdom
comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”
Ecclesiastes 7:4. “The heart of the wise is in
the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.”
Proverbs 15:13. “A happy heart makes the
face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 12:25. “Anxiety weighs down the
heart, but a kind word cheers it up.”
Exodus 3:7. “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed
seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of
their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.’ ”
Isaiah 53:3-5. “He was despised and rejected
by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…. Surely he took up our
pain and bore our suffering, …”
Mark 14:32-34. “They went to a place
called Gethsemane, and Jesus …. began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My
soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, …’ ”
Romans 9:1-4. “I speak the truth in Christ – I
am not lying, … I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I
could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
people, … the people of Israel.”
2 Corinthians 6:4-10. “As servants of God we
commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance, in troubles, hardships and
distresses; … dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing; …”
Revelation 21:1-4. “Then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, …And
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now
among the people, … He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has
passed away.’ ”
As I think
on the above scriptures, several conclusions come to me with regard to sadness,
sorrow and suffering.
- Sorrow is not necessarily a bad thing; it can actually be helpful in our service for God and others.
- The Father, in his son Jesus, suffered for us and suffers with us; he knows very well when we are sad.
- As we serve our Lord and others faithfully, we can be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”
- All sadness, sorrow and suffering will one day come to an end.
Bob Rakestraw
November 4, 2013
“The New Benediction Project”
