Was last night a sleepless one for you because you recently lost someone dear to you? Maybe weeks have gone by, but somehow you’ve not been able to process the grief. You spent most of the night crying, and even now, the tears are flowing.

If it seems to you that you will never get over your grief, I have some encouraging words for you. There’s a day coming when, as the prophet Isaiah put it, “sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Did that thought really sink into your heart—that one day “sorrow” and “sighing” will be forever gone from our vocabulary?

Famous London preacher Joseph Parker once pointed out that when you look through a dictionary, you will sometimes come across a word that is marked “obsolete.” That means the word is outdated and no one uses it anymore. There will eventually come a day, Parker said, when “sorrow” and “sighing” will be two words we never use again.[1] They’ll be obsolete. Revelation 21:4 gives us four more when it says, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” All obsolete! Archaic! Superseded! How great that will be!

Tragedy and sorrow come to all of us. And when they strike, sometimes you think to yourself, “I’m never going to feel good again. The pain is so bad that life doesn’t seem worth living.” Hold on a little longer. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, one day God will wipe all tears from your eyes.

In the meantime, know that the Lord is very near to you during this difficult time. Jesus understands. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was crucified, the Bible says that He “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7). So, He knows how you feel. Take heart. The Bible tells us, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

[1] R. W. DeHaan, taken from “Our Daily Bread” (Grand Rapids, MI: Radio Bible Class, September 11, 1969).

 

What sorrow are you giving to the Lord today?