“Sorrow is
better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.”
How true, isn’t
it?
I am not saying
that I believe in being sorrowful, that I would choose sorrow over laughter. In fact, I believe in laughter and lots of it.
But that’s just life.. Sorrow does come, in one way or another; whether it’s
self-inflicted or caused by others or circumstances.
But it’s really
true that sadness does have a refining influence on us, at least for me
personally. I remember that I used to be very simple-minded and did not really
think too deeply into and about things long ago. If I knew myself then, I would
see myself as someone with no depth, someone who’s not perceptive, someone who’s
somewhat hollow. That all changed when I suffered my first heartbreak; so
painful I cried. I dwelled, I mourned, I allowed myself to feel the full extent
of the pain. I remember how much it hurt, so much the pain travelled from the
heart through the entire body till I could feel it at my fingertips. I didn’t
cope that well with the pain then. By the grace of God, as I learnt to call out
to Him and begged of Him to take the pain away, He did, not immediately, but
that waiting period also allowed a time of growth and resilience. I am
continually thankful to God. Experiencing pain also gives me a new level of
empathy and compassion for those who are hurting and I am thankful to God for
using me in this way as well.
A dear friend’s
follow up comment on this verse that I also shared on facebook responded that sometimes, sorrow
retains too much of an influence. My response to that? That’s why God didn’t
intend for the verse to say sadness has a retaining
influence on us. Sadness can be a refining influence.. do we let go and let
God? Are we able to surrender that sorrow to God to allow him to do a good work
in us? Do we want to surrender that
sorrow to God?
.
No comments:
Post a Comment