Sadness is an emotion we have all experienced at one junction or another in our lives. It’s an emotion that is unavoidable as long as we are alive. It is an emotion, though, that we know, with God, we can endure and triumph over.
Until recently, I thought being a Christian went hand in hand with an inability to be sad. More specifically, I thought that sadness was a sin and a big no-no in the Christian community. How can I be sad if I have eternal life in Heaven to look forward to?
How can I have the audacity to be sad when I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, a place to sleep, and especially when there are people who have less than half of what I have? I truly thought I was crazy, ungrateful, and a bad Christian. For the longest time, I kept that Christian smile plastered on to save face when in actuality, I felt horrible. All because I didn’t want to be disrespectful to God or my Christian brothers and sisters. Even my therapist had to assure me that it was okay to be sad, it is a human emotion we will all endure.
What I learned was that it’s okay to be sad or depressed because of trials or circumstances, but it’s not okay to stay there. God even says “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). This verse signifies, to us, that in this life of ours we all will go through one thing or another. No one is exempt from it, but the difference for us Christians is that we can have hope and comfort in Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30).
I am sure I am not the only one who has allowed situations to keep them in a saddened or greatly depressed state. Doing this can be detrimental to one’s self and future, and even deadly. If you don’t believe me, listen to this!
Almost two years ago, I was in the worst mental and spiritual state I had ever been in my life. Much of this was because of pain, trauma, and a longing for acceptance from the world. I had grown accustomed to sadness, and depression, and made self-pity my bed. Sadness had become more familiar to me than happiness because I stayed in these states of mind far too long. I was so overwhelmed and depressed by a multitude of things going on in my life at that time – a heartbreak, pandemic isolation, disconnection from life, mistrust in God, family, and even myself. Sadness and depression had become a non-stop Netflix series in my mind and life. I had grown so sad that I had finally reached the bottom of the self-pity pit that I’d allowed myself and life to me. I hit rock bottom! I saw no way out or through. I was literally a few moments away from taking my own life and finally getting this so-called peace that I thought only would bring me. I thought I’d be set free from the life of pain I kept enduring.
But as the saying goes, God laughs when we make plans! God even states, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”(Jeremiah 29:11).
At that moment, and plenty of others, when I was sad, depressed, or down and out with no way out or through, God provided something or someone to help me, and I know that is true for you as well. Believe that God has and will make us victorious in these battles we go through.
The Bible says: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown”(Revelation 2:10 NIV).
But we also have to be real and intimate with God as well. God is almighty and all-knowing, yes. He’s also a friend, however, and confessing what we’re going through and humbling ourselves will be the very actions that bring us closer to God and out of those situations and circumstances that may have us down and sad in the first place.
If you need more motivation, recently my pastor told me a great analogy about life. She said, try and look at life like it’s a bag of M&M’s, you love everyone except the green kind. Does that mean you’re going to throw away every bag you get? No, you’re going to endure the green ones even though you may not like them because you still love all the other colors. That’s what we should do in life, endure through some little bad times to enjoy all the good times life offers.
I won’t sit here and say life will be rainbows and sunshine 24/7, no, because that’s a fantasy or Heaven and we aren’t there yet. But I will say dark, rainy days make you cherish the sunny bright ones even more because God is that umbrella that helps you wither through the storms of life.
