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He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3a, ESV).
Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
My mother used to say, “Sorrow is the first step to joy.” Quite the theologian — my mother!
If you are asking yourself, “How do I find joy?” or, in more familiar cultural terms today, “How do I become happy?” the first step is asking, “Why am I sad?” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said in his book The Little Prince (one of the most translated books in history), “He who has passed the kiln of sorrow is the one who can feel the highest joy.”
The Bible contains many joys and sorrows but never intends for us to live in a perpetual state of sadness. Correctly discerned sadness/sorrow connects our emotions with our reason, so we can make decisions to move forward. Mind, will, and emotion must work together to overcome sorrow.
Let’s discern what’s causing our sorrow now. Be quiet for a few minutes and think about your immediate fears, anxieties, heaviness, or failure — all of which cause sorrow — and remember that the Man of Sorrows died for all of them. I quote The Little Prince in this blog post not only because it is great literature, but because the author describes sadness and its purpose exquisitely; the book never achieves joy or peace.
And that’s the world: our literature, movies, screaming e-influencers, and those at work constantly complaining about sorrow (or problems), not as eloquently as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, but streaming words of frustration, getting up the next morning doing the same, with life becoming a constant flow of spoken sorrow.
Some enjoy the camaraderie of sadness as a sort of familiar spirit, others complain about it, and some become depressed. Jesus, however, the founder and perfecter of our faith, for the joy set before Him, endured the shame and pain of the cross for all of us.
Jesus is the Man of Sorrows, so we need not be men and women of sadness.
In my personal dealings with sorrow, I pray for understanding from the Father, ask for strength in the name of Jesus, and receive comfort from the Spirit — or mind, will, and emotion working with the Father, Son, and Spirit.
There’s a sorrow that debilitates and another that becomes the first step toward freedom. I probably quote C.S. Lewis too often, but he writes in his book A Grief Observed…
Grief [sorrow] is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.
Jesus became a man of sorrows to release our joy!