No Two Sorrows Are The Same

"He is the source of every mercy

and the God who comforts us."

2 Corinthians 1:3

God knows we grieve, understand our sorrow, and comforts us.

He does not promise to preserve us from grief, but to help us through it.

No Two Sorrows Are The Same

SITUATION Lamentations was read publicly each year to remind the Jews that their sin had caused them destruction of Jerusalem. The book recorded both the faithfulness of God and the repentance of the people.



OBSERVATION Sin brings punishment. But sorrow, confession, and repentance brings healing and wholeness.



INSPIRATION A vast number and variety of human emotional experiences come under the general label "sorrow." Marie, a friend of mine and a member of my congregation, shared thee intimate feelings with me upon the death of her husband. "No two sorrows are the same. I lost my son as a teenager. I lost my daughter in her twenties. Now my husband has passed away. Each grief has been painful, but each grief has been different."



Over and over I've seen sorrow, and over and over again I have witnessed this one fact: God does comfort good people when bad things happen to them. It is possible to be happen in a world where sorrow casts its long grey shadow.



Trouble never leaves us where it finds us; sorrow will change our tomorrow. But God inspires us to become better people, not bitter ones. He shows us the negative can be turned into a positive, a minus into a plus, and that's what the cross is all about.



How can we find relief from grief? How can we turn our mourning into a morning? (1) Realize what you can do for yourself! (2) Realize what God can do for you! (From The Be (Happy) Attitudes by Robert Schuller)



APPLICATION What sorrows have you knows? Have you experienced the death of a love one, a ruined marriage, or regrettable mistake? If your heart is grieving turn to God for comfort and assurance. He hears your cries, tears, and disappointments.



EXPLORATION Comfort from God -- Psalm 23:1-4; 94: 10; 119:50, 52; Isaiah 66:1-3; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Philippians 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17.



The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus, Max Lucado General Editor, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New Century Version