Sadness Strengthens the Heart

There are a lot of things about life that are not obvious. There are many paradoxes, too. These are things that seem to be opposites, but they go together. In order to have a fulfilling life like God wants us to have, we have to learn these things, and live by them. One example of what I am referring to is sadness. Most people never want to be sad. They see it as a bad thing. They only want to be happy and have happy times in life. However, the truth is that sadness strengthens the heart, so it is a good thing.(Ecclesiastes 7:3,4)

Take a moment to look back over your life. What have you really learned from the happy experiences that has helped you grow as a person? I am sure there are some things you have learned, but for the most part, they are more shallow and more temporary than the things we learn from being sad or being serious minded about life. This is not to say that we should not be happy. I believe Christians should be the happiest people on earth. However, this is true because we learn from the sad times and the hard times, so we appreciate the happy times and see them in the right way. Happiness is not the goal of life. Christ-likeness is the goal of life.

Jesus was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He enjoyed a good party, but He lived in the sober reality of the seriousness of sin and the need for hearts to be changed by the power of God. He was quick to pray in agony to the Father for His will to be done. He had no problem with suffering for something that was important. He understood that pain and sadness strengthens the heart. We need to learn from the Lord when we are sad or grieved over our sins. We need to forsake happiness at times to fast and to pray in a serious way. Then, we see the growth to be more like Jesus.

Let's not live for happiness. That is the way of fools. Let's be ready to go into the house of mourning whenever that is needed to make us stronger, so we can let Jesus shine through us.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 9-11.