|
Religous: The sorrows of life
Pastor Pat O'Rourke
for South Peace News
Every life has its share of pain. Often we look at another person and think they have an easy time of it. They don’t go through hard times but let me tell you this: everyone does. Life dumps sorrows on each and every one of us.
And in practically every life there are times when pain and anguish are multiplied and can seem to be overwhelming.
Sorrow can be divided roughly into two categories.
Number one: sorrow and heartache caused by our own foolishness and rebellion. We all know very well when we do things we shouldn’t, yet we often do them anyway, sometimes in violation of our own conscious. This always produces sorrow. The good news is, God always stands ready to forgive. His forgiveness is conditional, based upon the acceptance of His Son Jesus, but it is there and it is available. And it is wonderful! Oh, the joy of sin forgiven and a clean slate in life!
Number two: the second category of sorrow is much more difficult to understand yet it comes to all. It is the sorrow experienced for seemingly no reason at all. It just comes: a car accident, a heart attack, the death of a child, bad news from the doctor, a mate’s announcement “I want a divorce” and the list goes on and on.
This type of sorrow is so unfair. Believe me, it’s there. Ask any pastor or counsellor. Society is full of this type of sorrow. Often the sufferer suffers in silence. After all, who wants to hear about another’s bad news? This type of sorrow can crush or create stress that can even lead to premature death.
The Christian faith takes an interesting viewpoint on the subject of sorrow. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ “learned obedience through the things he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)
Since Jesus learned obedience through suffering can we expect any less? Much suffering in life can shape us to obey God’s will and plan for us.
Paul, the Apostle, makes an interesting statement on the subject of sorrow in Acts 14:22 when he said, “Through much tribulation we enter into the Kingdom of God.”
Paul literally said tribulation and sorrow are a door through which we come into God’s Kingdom. This statement may have some reference to going to heaven when we die but is also contains a larger and more present truth. The truth is this. The Kingdom of God is a realm - it exists here on earth! It is accessible and the accessibility point, or the door, is suffering.
At this point of my article a question naturally arrives: “Are you blindly stumbling through life, sorrowing and suffering for no good reason, or are you using your sorrow to grow closer to a loving, heavenly Father?
In fact, I have in my library an excellent little book called “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows!”
Put in proper perspective, sorrow can enrich your life. It can make you into a more compassionate, caring person who can add much to society.
On the other hand, misunderstood sorrow can create a Hitler or lead to incidents like the Columbine High School massacre.
Let us strive to get a proper perspective on sorrow. It’s always going to be there. We may as well understand it.
There is another source of sorrow I would like to deal with in this article. It is something many Christians don’t understand and we all struggle with. It is the sorrow that is produced when we embrace the Scripture. That’s hard to understand yet it is there. It’s very real.
Let’s look at it closer. In Mark 4:17 Jesus talked about a certain type of human heart. He said, “When the seed - word - is sown in their heart that affliction or persecution arises, for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.”
Both affliction and persecution lead to sorrow. The word ‘affliction’ in fact can be translated into sorrow, while persecution often arrives from misunderstanding and misjudgments.
There is a lot of sorrow in the lives of many people that has come for no other reason than the fact they have made a quality decision to obey the Scriptures. This is perhaps the most misunderstood type of sorrow of all because, after all, when we obey God, we expect blessing. The blessing will certainly come in God’s timing but don’t be tricked into offence while you wait for the blessing.
In summing it all up, let me say this. Whatever your form of sorrow has taken, put your trust in God’s providence.
Like the old story says, we will understand it better. There is coming a day for each of us when we will understand why we have suffered.
< Previous
Home
|
