Where is God in my Sorrow?

I want to explore sorrow a bit more. We live at a time when it is understood to be normal to always be happy. If you stay unhappy, there is something wrong with you. While there is truth in that, as it is not a good thing to go through life as a grump, sorrow is a part of life

In one of the books of the Bible, Ecclesiastes, it says that life on earth is full of sorry. In other places, we read of sorrow coming from lost relationships, the judgement of God on sin, and even parental sorrow at how their adult children have turned out.

Our Lord speaks into our sorrow by being with us. His people Israel could experience their sorrow fleeing because of the Lord’s intervention in their lives. Jesus promised his disciples that their sorrow because he was leaving them would turn to joy when he came back.

Sorrow is real in this life and our Lord knows this. Yet he comes to us in our sorrow, and this relationship with him is our source of hope and can lead us to possible joy

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Midnight Mercies: Walking with God Through Depression in Motherhood

Many Christians have gone through dark nights of the soul. They have clung onto the Lord and life in times of deep despair and sorrow in this fallen world. If they have believed that Christians should never be like this, their grief and sorrow is compounded. Midnight Mercies, by Christine Chappell, gives voice to the experience of despair. While being written for depressed mothers, the book will be helpful for anybody in such a dark place. Chappell looks at common experiences despairing people have, examines people from Scripture who went through the same, and points to helpful Scriptural truth. Chappell ends describing how experiencing the gracious Lord Jesus brought life and hope and transformed her view of herself and her situation. I highly recommend this book. The book is available here

Someone I Know Is Grieving: Caring with Humility & Compassion by Ed Welch

Ed Welch has written an excellent short book about how to care for others while they are grieving. In the book, he covers how to respond wisely with wisdom, with compassion, and with humility. In each section, he gives real life examples of how people have cared well and cared badly. Then he walks us through how to care well by asking the reader practical, reflective questions. This is an excellent short book, which I would highly recommend. The book can be purchased here

Social Media Pressure: Finding Peace Alongside Jesus

Probably all of us know people who struggle with anxiety and depression that is in some way related to their social media use. John Perritt, in Social Media Pressure: Finding Peace Alongside Jesus is written as a response. He writes about a number of ways in which people’s relationships, mental health, and perception of the world around them are affected by the way they use social media. Perritt gives advice about how people can gain more peace in their lives, how they can relate more thoughtfully, and how they can recognize when they are addicted. Social Media Pressure is a helpful book that gives some basic guidelines about using social media in a healthy way.

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