God, I'm Sad

 “Jesus wept.” –John11:35

God the Son, eternal in power and glory, took on flesh, dwelt among us, and wept. Lazarus had died. He was moved deeply and troubled upon seeing Lazarus’ sister Mary and others weeping (John 11:33). I take comfort that when I am sad I have a great high priest in Jesus Christ who wept and is able to sympathize with me (Hebrews 4:15). Why? He is without sin. I can weep with hope for the sinless Christ sympathizes with me.

So, a simple prayer is heard by my Father in heaven: God, I’m sad. Perhaps I tell God like the Psalmist, “all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears” (Psalm 6:6). I look for my God to answer with comfort, “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:3). I know that “my groaning is not hidden from You” (Psalm 38:9).

I know how I feel, but in sadness my faith needs reminding from God’s never changing, never fading Word.

1) Remind me what I know when I feel sad.

When we see someone we care about become sad, we feel drawn to help. True help comes in unchanging truth God reveals in His everlasting Word. When you are sad, Christian, you need reminding of what you know to be true.

God reveals Himself to be an emotional being. Our God takes pleasure, gets angry, gets jealous, grieves, hates, loves, and even rejoices. He took on flesh and wept. He took on flesh and endured the suffering and shame of the cross for the joy that was set before Him. God’s emotions are perfect, holy emotions.

I know my heart is tainted with sin. Corrupted. So, temptations visit me in my sadness. I need reminders of God’s everlasting truth when tempted to despair, or become angry, jealous in my sadness.

Dear sad reader, remember what God has done. Sadness isn’t a sin. We become sad at the state of this fallen world. Angry, perhaps. And it all comes with longing for God’s kingdom. A kingdom which enjoys eternal joy in God’s presence with sin and death defeated.

Another reminder of truth is that God is with us. He is not absent from us in our pain. He draws near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). Puritan William Bridge reminds us, “Thus does God, with whom are reserves of mercies, reserve His sweetest consolations for the time of our sourest afflictions, and temper the one with the other in most fit proportion” (A Lifting for the Downcast, Page 53).

Feeding your faith with truth of the unseen you know is true is not to be compared to modern medicine where pain can be relieved immediately. I KNOW Jesus raised from the dead, and I know one day He will wipe away every tear from my face. I am still sad, but it is not a sadness without hope.

Dear sad soul, remind your downcast heart of truth. “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

2) Remind me what is ahead when I remain sad.

We may be sad here along with the groanings of all creation for redemption, but “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

RC Sproul said, “Ultimately there are no tragedies for the people of God. God has promised by Himself that all things that happen in this world – all pain, all suffering, all tragedies – are but for a moment and God works in and through those events for the good of those who endure them…Tragedy for the Christian is temporary. Never permanent.”

I know what work the Lord has begun in me. I know He will complete this good work at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). However, today I am sad as sin still drags souls from enjoying God and death still takes loved ones. Christians may not weep like the world without hope does, but we weep. 

Yet, Paul commands us to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).  There is joy in the Lord when we are sad. There is the key: joy is in the Lord. Such joy cannot be obtained by will or thought, but is a gift from God (Romans 15:13). How precious is such everlasting joy in the Lord, especially when we are sad!

I will never forget the first time my wife and I attended a Baptist church just outside of Richmond, Kentucky. An elderly man came to sing a special. He had been a widow for a number of years and sang with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free! For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!”

We may have tears of sadness and longing here, but we have hope of the future God has promised us. And He is good to gift to us joy in such foretastes of eternity along our pathway here.

What is this joy God gifts to us? Our Triune God has love in Himself. The Father, Son, and Spirit loves. John Piper writes, “It is an admiring, delighting, exulting love. It is Joy. The Holy Spirit is God’s Joy in God.” He continues, “This means that Joy is at the heart of reality. God is Love, means most deeply, God is Joy in God.”

When we are sad, our joy in God remains by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. He produces fruit in us, among which is joy. Such joy now is looking forward to the coming glory which cannot be compared to this momentary suffering of sadness here.

As we sojourners and exiles make our way home heavenward, God’s presence with us, His mercies to us, is a comfort.

In Revelation 6, those martyred cry out to the Lord, “How long, O Lord?” They cry for God’s justice, for God’s justice in Christ’s return means He will right every wrong. The Lord gives them each a “white robe and told to rest a little longer” (Revelation 6:11). The God of all comfort in Christ our Lord comforts those who cried this prayer.

The sharp pains of grief here are comforted in the Savior’s love for us as we, too, await that coming Day. “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (I Peter 5:10).

Only a little while longer, dear mourning Christian. Our Savior will return for us. He will restore. He will right every wrong. He will wipe away every tear. Rejoice for the coming day in tears. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

God, I am sad. I trust in Your promises in Christ. I trust in what You have revealed what is ahead for me. Yet, I am sad. Remind me of Your promises, of Your gospel. Remind me once again of what is ahead. Draw near to me in my sadness, and draw me nearer to You, that I may abound in hope. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Blessed Hunger

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” -Matthew5:6

The human experience of hunger and thirst are internal alarms of a great need to survive. These words are more than craving. Our bodies warn us of what is needed inside of us to survive and thrive. The instinct of a deep need for survival is one thing, but our Lord taught that blessed joy is found in hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

In verse 10, Jesus tells us there is blessedness in being persecuted, but not just any mistreatment. Persecution for the sake of righteousness. The very righteousness we hunger and thirst for. There is a blessedness to enjoy for being persecuted for righteousness’ sake. So, in context, the blessed follower of Jesus is poor in spirit, agonizes over their own sin, is humble and lowly in their relationships to others, is merciful even to the undeserving, is pure in heart, exhausts energy to be a peacemaker, is persecuted for living a godly life, and is insulted and mistreated without retaliation.

The promise for the blessed Christian hungering for righteousness and being mistreated for righteousness’ sake is this precious truth of Jesus: they shall be satisfied. This goes to Paul’s secret to contentment in Philippians 4. To know how to have plenty and to lack, to be free or imprisoned, to have plenty or to be hungry, Paul learned how to be content. Christ strengthens us to do all things (Philippians 4:13).

However, Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes for being satisfied is “fattened.” That is, fed until completely full. It’s the same word for the feeding of the 5,000. They ate until they were satisfied. If we hunger for righteousness, we have the promise to eat until completely full. Fattened on the righteousness of God.

The Christian suffers the longing for righteousness as a hunger and a thirst, then suffers being persecuted for having been filled, or fattened with righteousness. To desire our own righteousness, that is self-righteousness, is the natural desire of the sinner. God works this longing, this desire for His righteousness.

Such a desire goes from selfishness to the very next verse, the blessed shows mercy (Matthew 5:7). This blessed mercy shower receives mercy. So, a pursuit of God’s righteousness has two results. One, that we mourn how far short we fall of God’s righteousness. Yet, with a new born-again heart, sin is dead to us and we pursue righteousness with the reward of being fattened with the righteousness we crave.

We are to long for eternity. Yet, we have never experienced eternity. We have only tasted portions of the eternal goodness of God. By faith in Christ, we receive the assured promise of everlasting life (I John 2:25). There, in eternal glory, we receive the fullness of this promise. While we sojourn here on earth, let us pursue His righteousness. Even if we are mistreated for pursuing a godly life (II Timothy 3:12), we are fattened with righteousness and content.

Heavenly Father, give us hearts craving Your righteousness. Where sin is dead to us and Your beautiful truth is alive in the deepest places of our hearts. May we be satisfied and content, even in the hardest times on earth, knowing You will lead us home with You in Your eternal dwelling place where we will be fully, finally, and forever satisfied. In Jesus’ name. Amen.