There is a season for all things …No human escapes this life without sadness, great and small. It can test our faith, our endurance, our strength … and it can test our patience. One of the greatest temptations with sadness is to shove it aside, refusing to experience it. As Christians, we can even convince ourselves that it’s our duty to do so.
But the sadness of grief or disappointment can be helpful. It tells us that something is not as it should be, and that’s a good thing. When we’re experiencing loss, our grief tells reaffirms that death does not come from God, but resurrection does. When we’re not sure why we’re experiencing sadness, it prompts us to take another look at our lives and ask ourselves, “What’s missing? Why am I unhappy?”
If we can find the patience to allow our emotions to run their course, we can even find wisdom in them. As scripture tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under the sun: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4).
Here’s a prayer for when you’re suffering with sadness …
Father in heaven, You gave me my emotions as a gift, but I don’t always see them that way. In times of hardship, I often feel unable to bear them and wish to be spared from feeling them. But I ask you now for a childlike trust in Your providence, and, entrusting my life into Your fatherly hands, I ask for the grace to accept all of my emotions, knowing that You have ordained a time for them all. I ask that, through this sadness, You grant me the grace of trust, healing, and guidance.
My Jesus, as Your own sorrow brought about my salvation, I pray that by uniting my pain to Yours You will lead me to wholeness. I pray that You will grant me a place beside Mary at the foot of Your cross and that Your grace will open my heart to receive the Divine Mercy that flows from Your pierced side.
Amen.
