On Sadness.

It’s no secret that we live in  broken world.  Sin has been a part of humanity since the beginning, and the result is pain, lies, discouragement, and sadness.  Not always.  Life is also filled with so much purpose, joy, peace and love. 

This weekend though, sadness seemed to prevail, yes, for me, but mostly, for people I care about deeply. 

 A good friend to many of my good friends and family took his own life on Saturday, leaving so many in shock, without answers and saying goodbye much quicker than they ever thought they’d have to. 

And my heart hurts for them.  A lot.  They lost a DEAR friend, mentor, teacher and brother.  And my heart hurts for this man, who I can only imagine experienced great loneliness and pain, and thanks to the fact that we live in a sinful world, probably chose to listen to lie after lie in his head about his lack of worth, and hopelessness.  When in reality, his worth was far greater in the eyes of those in his life (as is attested to by the pages of notes left to him on his facebook page).  And more importantly, his infinite worth in the eyes of his, and my saviour, Jesus Christ.

Later that Saturday, I had the privilege of spending time with a very old friend who is also hurting as she picks up the pieces of brokenness in her life, brokenness that was forced upon her, not of her choosing. 

And my heart hurts for her.  She is a person of incredible beauty, integrity, wisdom and strength.  A person who deserves so much more that what has been handed to her lately.  And I have hoped and prayed that she won’t listen to lie after lie about her lack of worth and hopelessness.  Because in reality, her value in the eyes of the people in her life is probably FAR greater than she could ever know.  And more importantly, she has infinite worth in the eyes of her, and your saviour, Jesus Christ. 

And so for me, yes, I am very sad.  And I have spent some time this weekend trying to reconcile God’s purpose for this world in the midst of such sadness.   But I’ve learned this weekend, that my role in this particular sadness, I think, is to care for those who are also really sad. And that right there is the beauty of community. Because God created us to be in relationship,  when one person hurts, everyone feels some degree of sadness for them.  So, I will do that.  I will pray, listen, cry and hug those who need it.  Not because I’m awesome and the Friend of the Year, but because that is what I need to do during this time of sadness.

If there’s one thing I’ve been reminded of again and again (especially this summer), it is that with Christ, things are never hopeless.  There is always hope, because, in the end, God wins.  He overcomes everything that sin brought into this world, including sadness.   We can choose to ignore that fact and be swallowed by  the sadness, or we can choose His hope.  Even in the sorrow, we can choose to see the grace, peace and hope that God brings for each of us.  And so as I watch tears fall, and as I shed many of my own, I will pray for hope and peace for each of my friends. 

Peace.