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.

Dear Gloomy Christian

 “For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” -Psalm 30:5

The Word of God is both true and lovely. We find in this single verse the full and honest truth about human grief as well as the refreshing help from heaven. Our anxieties, griefs, depressions are not hidden behind a veneer of “it’s nothing,” nor is the cure some flippant cliché. The honest darkness we experience as fallen creatures covers our thoughts and days like thick gloom, and the help of our merciful God is like a warm sun ray piercing through the clouds.

As a sinner before a holy God, I fear His anger. Yet to know the Father’s favor on Christ’s righteousness is on me for a lifetime is a great comfort, welcoming me to confess sin and repent knowing I am warmly welcomed by my forgiving God who is long-suffering with me.

With such a warm welcome like the father to the lost son, the second half of this verse is deeply refreshing for my often weary heart. “Weeping may tarry for the night,” sings the Psalmist. I must carry on, but what can I do with my anxiety, grief, sadness? The counsel may come from the seat of scoffers to simply toughen up, stop being so wimpy. Trust me, I have tried that. I have tried hiding my weeping behind a determined face to show the world that I am strong and I am fine. 

The Psalmist later writes, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm30:11). Notice, the Psalmist did not turn himself into being glad. He did not simply toughen up or straighten his crown and carry on. God, by His rich mercy, turned the Psalmist’s gloom into gladness.

This, dear brother or sister, is a warm invitation from our heavenly Father. His anger for me and my sin was poured out on Christ who became a curse for me (Galatians3:13). God is not angry with me. His mercy is on my lifespan and shall follow me all of my days (Psalm 23:6). Perhaps you need to hear this, beloved: in Christ, God is not angry with you. He invites you and me with sin, anxiety, sadness, gloom, to come to Him through Christ. His Holy Spirit draws us to Him. Our Lord is full of love, forgiveness, mercy, and wisdom for the gloomy child who comes to Him.

Go to Him in faith and go now, go often. God lifts the burdens we cast upon Him, and He is both mighty enough and caring enough to lift them (I Peter 5:7). Yes, even if the Lord does not take away from the causes of our pain, like Paul’s thorn, we hear the Lord say, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Let us, like Paul, “boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:9).

The Lord’s mercy turning my gloom to gladness has a purpose that I “may sing Your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever” (Psalm 30:12). Go to the Lord trusting His mercy for you in Christ. He takes your gloom and gives you gladness that you will not be silent in the darkness but rejoicing with thanksgiving in the light of His glorious grace.

Heavenly Father, we come to You in honesty. We are sinners. Our flesh weakly falls into gloom, covering the thoughts of our hearts with sadness. Forgive us Lord and do not be angry with Your children in Christ. Lift our burdens as we cry out to you from the darkness and gladden our hearts that we may sing of Your glorious grace! In Jesus’ name. Amen.