Is God In Our Sadness?

God and sadness….

God and sadness don’t seem like they should go together. Maybe if we stop and try to dissect the terms, we can. No, I am not going to do that here. I will put you to sleep and you will never read any of my stuff again. Romans 9 NIV – Paul’s Anguish Over Israel – I speak – Bible Gateway

Nope, we will go with those thoughts in your mind about each and just run with those. Of course, you gotta hear mine first. Stay with me. I won’t bore you—I don’t think.

First, let me give you a little background. I, overall, am a contented being. Contented doesn’t mean happy. Joyful doesn’t mean happy. At least those are my working definitions. I think being happy is rare. That’s not a bad thing. Think of it like the Bell Curve we grew up with in school. At both ends were the extremes: sadness and happiness. To be happy all the time puts you at one end of the emotional spectrum. It’s hard to maintain that. It’s like you get an A on that algebra test you were worried about. You didn’t think you would get a B let alone an A. The teacher even tells you ‘nice job.’ That feeling, right there. That is happiness. It fades away when you walk into the next class. Or what I like to call on a life scale—season.

At that moment of the season, you are content in your joy. ‘Mark, so what’s the difference between Joy and Happiness?’ Happiness is that flash of emotion which feels really good. So good your body reacts to it with a smile, a laugh, a funny burp. Joy is a contentment within and with who you are and where you are at in that season.

     Right now….

Right now, as I write this. I am Joyful. Background-I write. I write a lot. Novels. They are fun and bring me joy. Right now, I am at my desk, it is before dawn and the sun isn’t up yet. The colors out the window of the neighborhood are striking. I really like it in the fall to early spring because it stays darker longer. I live in Phoenix as well where the morning temperature sometimes, does not go below 95 degrees. That’s just stupid. But I imagine its like being in Green Bay, Wisconsin in January. That’s just stupid I would suspect. At least I don’t have to dig my car out of the snow bank. So I got that going for me.

So, what is sadness. I would unscientifically declare it is the antithesis of happiness. The other end of the Bell Curve. It is a season in our lives where we are in the emotional position of feeling not so good inside of ourselves. Exactly like happiness, it is a feeling in our, well, soul. I have experienced the same emotional symptoms with each. Each have provided tears, sometimes gut-wrenching emotion. You’re right when you say you have never laughed when you were sad. Me either, so I think there are some physical traits that are unique, like that ugly crying with hard tears, ugly lips turned upside down, curled up on the couch and your body is retching, all highlighted with snot. That’s sad.

     …something in your soul….

Still, something in your soul has caused a physical occurrence. But you can also have time in your life, when you aren’t having tears, but you are not content deep inside. You still function, you still go to work, get the kids off to school, get dressed all of that. But your soul is not content.

Now, I am not even going to touch clinical stuff, like Depression. There are people among us who are seriously hurting, and we need to pay attention to them as well. We can affirm them, remind them they are not alone, take them to lunch, mow their lawn. Love them where they are. But for us, if the above fits us, I have discovered what helps is knowing there is Someone, who knows what we are going through. God.

‘Mark, why is God always the answer when talk comes around to living? God got me in this mess. If it is in my soul like you said, God gave me the soul if I believed in him. Now look at me.’

Yeah, isn’t it great!

‘What?’

     The coffee is great….

Look, the world is, in parts and at moments, can be a beautiful place, like right now in my office. The coffee is great, Pandora is playing Helen Jane Long music, the dogs are asleep snoring like longshoremen/women. But in a few minutes or hours, I will step back into reality. The world is also a dumpster fire of animal droppings on a hot summer day. It will be followed by another day of the same ilk. And again, and again, and again.

Over my life, I have tried to peddle the bike on my own. I have; it’s been okay. But it is exhausting to live this life. EXHAUSTING. I have found myself surrendering at those times to simply saying ‘just move my arms and legs, God. I can’t today.’ Then, it became like a slow, warm, wave washing over me, a bit at a time. It was hardly noticeable, but definitely there. So, I said it again. Again, it showed up. But nothing in the manner I thought it would be. But better.

     …most definitely.

So, is God in our sadness? I would say most definitely. He didn’t create sadness, that was that other guy and God allows it. Why? To bring me closer to Him. If you have kids, and they were ever scared of something when they were young, they automatically spin on their heels and find you, and hug your leg. Yep. That contentment of joy in the parent’s protection is an amazing feeling.

All you have to do is ask.

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Romans 9 NIV – Paul’s Anguish Over Israel – I speak – Bible Gateway