Experiencing Grief and Sadness is Deep
All people may experience great anguish and unbearable pain caused by unmet expectations, grave discomfort and tragic situations. Christians experience pain and sadness in very deep ways.
Why do I say this? Because we know something of the joy and delight that God intends for His creation and His people. We know also that this present world does not come close to that joy and delight. There is a deep-seated understanding that the way the world is now, is not the way it should be. For Christians then there is knowledge of a definable gap that cannot be satisfied by anything but God Himself and the future He intends.
John writes, that God will come again to live with His people and all will be well.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore . . .” [1]
When we see tragedies, when we witness racism, when we agonise over conflicts between groups and nations, when we hear of sickness and disease . . . our correct response IS tears, mourning and compassion. Our response is magnified because of the enormous gulf between what is, and what we know it will be.
So, our tears and mourning are not sentimental, they are not cries of hopelessness – instead they are a deep yearning for the way that things WILL be. They are expressions of deep hope.
[1] Revelation 21:4