Sorrow
I came on this wierd verse in Ecclesiastes 7:3 "Sorrow is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart". I bet you haven't heard to many sermons on that one but it made me think about it, why does God allow sorrow? and how can it be better for you than laughter? I think God seems to use sorrow to plow the depths of your soul that it may yield a richer, fuller harvest. In a fallen world sorrow seems to be the thing that opens us to ourselves that we may see deep into the chasms of our own souls and find out what is truely there, revealing unknown depths, capacities and ministries that would never otherwise be revealed. I truely wish there where another way to reveal these but it seems to me that sorrow is God's tool. As I've studied the great hero's of faith in the scripture I began to unveil a pattern I didn't like. It seems that God never used them to the greatest degree until He broke them completley. Abraham afflicted, Moses an outcast and what about the favoured son of Jacob called Joseph. He suffered more sorrow than all the other sons put together but he was led into a ministry of feeding the nations.
My observation for today is not the one that would pack a conference centre or have people lining up at the door but its true nonetheless, here it is in one line.
It takes sorrow to expand and deepen the soul in order to fulfil the mysterys of God.
3 Comments:
Hey Phil,
As I read the first line of your blog this morning I immediately thought of the story where Jesus washed the disciples feet. To cut a long story short He was teaching them humility and sometimes that to get to the top you have to start at the bottom. God sure does coose some starnge methods. Your strength and courage over the past few months has been immense. I can see you climbing those mountains and reaching the top, but in order to get to the top you had to start at the bottom. I'm sure you hit rock bottom but hey I imagine some of the stuff you and God have shared on the mountain top has been amazing. Its been a rough road for you, full of obstacles but God has been and will continue to bring you through. God bless you
Hi Philip
I am excited to hear your word today. That may sound strange also but it is just the same thing that I have been hearing and reading over the past few weeks.
I love to find new ideas and teachings and this is certainly one for me.
I know in my own life That I wouldn't know the joy of forgiveness for eg. if I hadn't went through remorse and guilt for my behaviour so this stuff makes perfect sense to me.
I have been reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, an amazing book ful of profundities;
'Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.'
Food for thought indeed.
Anyway, thanks for your word Philip.
Love ya
Hey Philip. Was reading some of the Psalms earlier and this bit leapt off the page at me - in Psalm 6, the psalmist is crying out to God because his '...soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?...' And then at the end of the chapter he realises that God hears his prayers, and notes that his enemies will, '...turn back in SUDDEN disgrace...' I had never noted the relevance of that word before - sudden - when the time's right, the turn-around, the revelation, the coming of the new day, will be SUDDEN, and nothing, no-one and no set of circumstances can ever change that. I hope there is encouragement in this for you.
Marty and the girls and I love you lots. xo
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