SORROWING

I Was Just Thinking About – SORROWING.

One of the more difficult times in one’s life is coping with the death of a loved one or friend. Even though we can agree that a Biblical Christian is far better off after death as compared with challenges and struggles in life, there is that sense of loss and an emptiness over the loved one who is no longer with us.

Horatio G. Spafford experience two major traumas in his life. The first was the great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a wealthy businessman). Shortly after, while crossing the Atlantic, all four of Spafford’s daughters died in a collision with another ship. Spafford’s wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” In 1873, as he sailed to join his sorrowing wife, when he passed near the spot where his daughters had perished, he penned words that became a Hymn – It Is Well With My Soul. The first stanza expresses some of the inner conflict one can experience at such times. On the one hand, he wrote: “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way…” It references the inner peace that the Lord has made available for His people to embrace throughout the peaks and valleys of their lives. The next phrase expresses the sense of grief he and his wife experienced, when he wrote: “When sorrows like sea billows roll…” The next two lines express a reality one can know throughout life: “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”

A verse that expresses the range of human emotions is Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Paul echoed this thought when he gave this word of encouragement in I Thessalonians 4:13-14, “We do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.”

My sister and I were sharing recently that throughout our lives this is the first year that our older brother is no longer with us. We also noted that other family members died in the latter part of years past: our father was buried on Christmas Eve 75 years ago; our maternal Grandmother (who lived with us) was buried in October 68 years ago; our Mother was buried before Thanksgiving 30 years ago – and now – our older brother this year.

Somehow – in the midst of one’s own personal journey in life – there has to be an embrace and practice of the concept given in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” The Amplified Bible expresses it: “Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].” May the Lord be with you who are sorrowing this day!

Prayerfully – consider these things with me!