3rd April 2023

Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

It's hard, but sorrow can be good for the soul. It can uncover hidden depths in ourselves and in God.

Sorrow causes us to think earnestly about ourselves. It makes us ponder our motives, our intentions, our interests. We get to know ourselves as never before.

Sorrow can also help us to see God as we have never seen Him. Job said, out of his terrible grief, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5).

The Lord Jesus, the perfect man, is described as “a man of sorrows,” intimately acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). It is hard to understand, but even the incarnate Son of God learned and grew through the heartaches He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). As we think about His sorrow and His concern for our sorrow, we gain a better appreciation for what God is trying to accomplish in us through the grief we bear.

The author of Ecclesiastes wrote, “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better” (7:3). Those who do not let sorrow do its work, who deny it, trivialise it, or try to explain it away, remain shallow and indifferent. They never understand themselves or others very well. In fact, I think that before God can use us very much, we must first learn to mourn. We can learn more from sorrow than from laughter.

Read

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14.

Prayer

Merciful God, Thank You that in times of sorrow You are with me. Thank You that the Lord Jesus knew what it was to suffer sorrow and grief. Thank You comfort all who call upon Your mighty name. In Jesus name. Amen.