In the name of our most benevolent and merciful High Priest: greetings.
I have been reflecting on my current situation and that of others around me and I have seen everyone, almost everyone, is in some form of pain. Some people have more pain than others; while others have only been hurt once or twice, but very deeply. I suppose I should be glad for my pain, and for my friends going through pain. Now, I do not mean to come off as a Sadist, but I think there is legitimate grounds for this:
"A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him." (Ecclesiastes 7:1-14)
May the Lord add His blessings to His holy Word. Consider how absurd this is to say,"I am better in pain and affliction than I am in joy and mirth." That is an absurd saying, but only to our flesh. No one desires pain, but we need it. We will learn more through pain than anything else. Wisdom comes from the house of mourning, and wisdom will bring joy. Therefore, the source of joy is pain? Look at the last part of the verse that says rejoice in happiness, and yet we are to know that Christ is still in our pain. He orchestrates one as well as the other, and I can say this is very true. Twice I have been betrayed twice in my life. Both times it hurt more than I wish to say, but both times I learned to love Christ more. I found myself driven to learn more than I did before. Eventually, wounds will heal and we will come to the point that we can live with them in our memory. Yet, the wisdom that comes from the pain lasts for a life time. I will take the pain, Oh Lord, but give me more of You. As one Puritan man once said, "Lord, lay upon me a heavy burden; only give me the strength to bear it." Instead of holding on to your pain because you do not know what to do with it become wise from your pain. I have found it better to be in the house of mourning than in the house of joy.
ReformationMan