Sorrow

Sorrow
Sorrow is such a painful emotion with such a sense of loss to go with it. You feel like you’ve been hit in the pit of your stomach and life has suddenly changed forever. Sorrow will come to you again and again and you will need to know how to deal with it. Scripture gives us many great and magnificient truths to help with it and to comfort us and I’ve called attention to many of those promises in my book: Glory in Tribulations: Suffering in the Life of the Believer. Many other books have been written on this vast and vital subject. I’ll mention two in my blog.

Not long after my wife died, our oldest daughter Jeannine gave me The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot. I told Jeannine what a blessing the book was to me. One of her first points is very significant--the difference between solitude and loneliness! “Solitude I've always loved and Mom always respected that; loneliness none of us want. . Through the years so often when people talked about me being alone, I would tell them, ‘I'm never alone’ and that awareness has been such a blessing through all the years but particularly now. And I find myself more and more talking aloud to the Lord and He does indeed comfort my heart--though it's amazing how the tears keep coming every so often after so many months. Elisabeth Elliot said the same thing. It sorta creeps in on you unawares and at unexpected times. She knows whereof she speaks. But of course there is a HUGE difference in never being alone because God is with you and Mom NOT being there!”

Somewhere in the book she said something about simply doing the next thing that needed to be done. I did that for weeks by reflex action and it kept me moving along. I still do it a lot. But I have a little more deliberate planning now. Also I knew from long experience in the Word that it was going to be very important not to get into a "pity party." Get your eyes off yourself and on the needs of others. The Lord has taught all of us to do this and we do it with varying degrees of success. Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no. But the point of love and service towards others is fundamental and often made and needs to be made. It's in her conclusion: "the answer to our loneliness is love--"--not finding someone else, but loving the Lord and therefore serving and loving others.” p. 192

“For many years the truths that keep me going and keep me from getting discouraged center on the promises of glory and that all will be well in the glorious eternal future. And we'll see Mom again! I get so excited when I realize how true that is. “We sorrow not as others who have no hope.” 1 Th.4:1

“One more thing that Mom more than anyone or anything taught me so well: how to live one day at a time and the desire to glorify God this one day--and be willing to follow His agenda and not ours for that particular day. Interruptions, unexpected things--all of that is in the providence of God and should be welcomed rather than fretted about. Sometimes we have the right attitude, sometimes, not quite.” Love, Dad