Sorrows

The Bible tells us something about sorrows, and I think our minds would probably turn to the Man of sorrows when we mention that subject. Of course, we all have our own.

Now the first time that we find this word in the Bible is back in Genesis 3 when the woman had been deceived and God said to her, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception...and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee." Now this latter part is not as bad as it sounds. This is not particularly a punishment, because in a life where sin has entered, the man and the wife can't be equal as Adam and Eve were before they fell. Knowing good and evil, having it about them, and doing good and evil, there are decisions to be made, so somebody has got to take the lead. Now they didn't have those problems before sorrow came, before they fell; then Adam and Eve could be on a perfect equality and be of a mutual mind and have no difficulty. But as soon as sin came in somebody is going to have to be boss of the household. And so God said that man who was the head, was to be the head of the household. Then God turned to the man Adam, and He said, "...cursed is the ground for thy sake: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of the life;" So Adam is going to have his sorrows too.

A wise man said in the Bible, "He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow:". Then in another place this preacher said, "knowledge increaseth sorrow." And knowledge increases responsibility and responsibility brings about sorrow.

Well who's going to escape it? This life is spoken of quite often as a "vale of sorrows." And it was because of this condition that our Lord became a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, carrying our sorrows even to the cross. So sin and death bring sorrow. Even of the believers it's said that,"all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The Jewish and Gentile believers, all of them, at least in that particular church (in Romans) had sinned and come short of the glory of God; and I think you can find that as a universal truth today. And seeing all this result of sin in the world, the preacher (in Ecclesiastes 1:14) said all the labor and the work of man was only vexation of spirit and vanity.

How unfortunate it would be, however, if there were no vanity or sorrow. Well why? Man would be so satisfied with this world that he would never wish for a better home! But when he begins to realize what he's up against, then he desires something better. It's in the midst of sorrow that man seeks for joy, and further than that, sorrow should bring us closer to the One Who bore our sorrow and grief.

[From Short Subjects T.F.T. Tape 5/17/83.]