Good Grief
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our pains. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted. (Isa 53:4, TLV)
Grief and sorrow is an experience that we all have, at one time or another. Everyone, at one time or another reaches a time when the curtains must be drawn, and the moving grief enshrouds our soul. Sooner or later Gesthemane comes to us all.
In many cases, sorrow likes to be masked, or disguised. People that we meet today, or that we already know, might be smiling, even though their heart is broken. Seemingly, beyond repair. Out of reach for recovery. If the curtain that veils our humanity could be parted, perhaps we would see grief and sorrow that would cause us to quiet our voice, temper our opinions, and soften our steps as we deal with people undergoing the experience of losing a loved one, or some other severe tragedy.
Good Grief
My precious friends, I see today
There is light I have waited for
the sunrise shows the better way
and now I see Heavens open door
If only we knew each other better
Just you and I and all the rest
We would see past the outer shell
and feel the sorrows all unguessed
We would see in a different light
the griefs our neighbor has to bear
in love of Christ we bring His light
show all how Jesus Christ does care
We would quit our cold complaining
our hand of light and trust extend
If we only knew each other better
We would count each one our friend
The way I wait for light like this
is in the sunrise bright and fair
there is no one whom I want to miss
I pray you know the Savior’s care
– David T Battler, August 2025
In the contemplation of Christ we linger on the shore of a love that is measureless. We endeavor to tell of this love, and language fails us. We consider His life on earth, His sacrifice for us, His work in heaven as our advocate, and the mansions He is preparing for those who love Him, and we can only exclaim, O the height and depth of the love of Christ! “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 1 John 4:10; 1 John 3:1. {AA 333.3}
In every true disciple this love, like sacred fire, burns on the altar of the heart. It was on the earth that the love of God was revealed through Christ. It is on the earth that His children are to reflect this love through blameless lives. Thus sinners will be led to the cross to behold the Lamb of God. {AA 334.1}
To all who are in the valley of the shadow this day, the word of the Lord breaks forth like a beautiful sunrise on a summer morning:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:16-17)
Disappointment, affliction, and acute bereavement cause intractable sorrow. A wayward child etches pronounced lines on the faces of parents, Afflictions sometimes whitens the hair prematurely, while bereavement causes so many to be bowed over with grief and pain and tears.In the words of Solomon:
“By sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” (Proverbs 15:3)
I have been finding in my own experience how grief and sorrow do have a special ministry in our lives, if we would be open to it. I have found it impossible to understand just why sorrow comes in the ways that we usually see. But what I do know is that our sorrows and griefs can either produce bitterness or a closer walk with God. I remember when my late wife died in my arms that I just kept praying over and over “Dear God, please give me strength.” “Do not let me go.” “Renew a right spirit in me.” “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation.” For a while, I found drugs to be my path, and then it was total despair, and then there was God. Immanuel. God with me. And now, by God’s grace, it’s nothing but the blood of jesus for me.
I have personally seen how my trials have been God’s workmen by which He has removed many impurities and roughness from my character. Oh no! I am not perfect, but I am perfect for Him. Jesus wants me now, more than ever. Upon no useless material does our God bestow such careful, thorough work.
Praise God! My sorrow is tempered by the special knowledge that Jesus Himself “has borne my griefs, and carried my sorrows.” (Isa 53:4) Jesus has led me to a Godly sorrow [which] worketh repentance to salvation,” (2 Cor 7:10). And when Jesus does that it has caused me to sorrow over the loss of my loved ones, but as His Word reminds us “we sorrow not as others which have no hope.” (1 Thes 4:13) And now, praise God, I look forward to the day of days when our beleagured earth is made new, and “sorrow and siging shall flee away.”
The Old Testament prophets knew this truth well. That’s why one said
“Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.” (Isa 12:3)
Soon, and very soon, that blessed promise of our Lord and Savior
“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Mat 5:4)
That comfort is how we may get closer to Jesus. As we are told by the Apostle Paul
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2 Cor 1:3-4)
My friends, “He who walked with the Hebrew worthies in the fiery furnace will be with His followers wherever they are. His abiding presence will comfort and sustain. In the midst of the time of trouble –trouble such as has not been since there was a nation– His chosen ones will stand unmoved. Satan with all the hosts of evil cannot destroy the weakest of God’s saints. Angels that excel in strength will protect them, and in their behalf Jehovah will reveal Himself as a “God of gods,” able to save to the uttermost those who have put their trust in Him.” {CC 252.5}
Those who have borne the greatest sorrows are frequently the ones who carry the greatest comfort to others, bringing sunshine wherever they go. Such ones have been chastened and sweetened by their afflictions; they did not lose confidence in God when trouble assailed them, but clung closer to His protecting love. Such ones are living proof of the tender care of God, who makes the darkness as well as the light and chastens us for our good. Christ is the light of the world; in Him is no darkness. Precious light! Let us live in that light! Bid adieu to sadness and repining. Rejoice in the Lord always. {AG 122.3}
It is your privilege to receive grace from Christ that will enable you to comfort others with the same comfort wherewith you yourselves are comforted of God. . . . Let each try to help the next one. Thus you may have a little heaven here below, and angels of God will work through you to make right impressions. Seek to help wherever you can. Cultivate the best dispositions that the grace of God may rest richly upon you. {AG 122.4}