Daily Journal: 17 April

Sorrow and Bitterness

If you’ve ever felt forgotten, despised, rejected, outcast, scorned, alone, or unjustly accused, the bible speaks of the same that Jesus Christ endured because of people.

The bible describes Jesus as a man of sorrows and suffering. Take a few moments to read Isaiah 53. It is a prophecy written 700 years earlier about the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and His suffering on the cross.

Isaiah 53:3 (NKJV)

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Nobody saw Jesus for who He was except His heavenly Father.

Isaiah 53:2 (TLB)

In God’s eyes he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him. 

A tender green shoot – young, sensitive, and pure.

Sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground – a place where there is no nourishment or anything to hold it and cause it to flourish.

Sorrow’s closest companion is bitterness.

In the book of Ruth, Naomi told her old friends to call her ‘bitter’ because of the sorrows she had endured in life. It wasn’t that she had become bitter – earlier passages in the book describe her prayers over her daughters-in-law, the loyalty they felt towards her, especially Ruth, that are testament to her enduring spirit. Her bitter speech came at a time when sorrow was again overwhelming her.

Sorrow carries seeds of bitterness and we have to battle against them from taking root.

Jesus “knew” suffering, but the bible says he focused on the joy He could see in advance, when He would accomplish victory over sin and death.

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

As Jesus did, we can despise shame and bitterness, and not allow sorrow to overcome us.

Life on this earth is temporary. We will live with suffering as well as joy. Ultimately, the sting of sin and death will no longer be felt if we acknowledge that Jesus Christ came to save humanity from everlasting suffering. For those who believe and place their faith in Him, only joy will remain. We can learn to live in that joy now, even in our current sorrows.

I pray you will know this reality for yourself more and more deeply and celebrate Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the eternal Saviour of the world.