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| The Two Sorrows by Cadi Nobles |
| I have done so many things in my life that I have later regretted. My own laundry list of mistakes is far too long when compared to the number of years I have lived. Big regrets and little regrets all manage to form themselves into a mosaic of times that could have been better, except for my mistakes. In some of these instances, I alone have suffered the effect of the decision, yet all too often family and friends have hurt from them as well. These are the sorrows that we all carry with us. Saved and unsaved alike can share in this part of life on earth. And yet, as with almost everything, our Christian foundation does play an important role in how we handle these situations. In the second book of Corinthians we find that “godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (II Cor. 7:10) It’s where being sorry parts ways with being trapped. Where mistakes and misdirections find their end in our lives. These “godly sorrows” are meant to lead us back to the straight and narrow path of Christianity, the mending of our ways. At this point in our lives, the enemy ‘comes in like a flood’ and the ‘spirit of the Lord raises a standard.’ In other words, the sorrow we feel is directed toward correcting the problem. Constructive steps are taken to repair our moral code or reinforce our prayer life. Although we still might carry the weight of poor decisions with us, we are not bound by past mistakes. Our ‘godly sorrow’ brings salvation. The ‘sorrow of the world’, on the other hand, takes us to death. This is the self-destructive sorrow that we have all witnessed at some point in our lives. Perhaps the most obvious illustration of this would be addicts. Unlike some that might feign righteousness, addicts truly see the misdirection of their ways. Sincerely sorry for their own actions, yet unable or unwilling to break the cycle, they become trapped in a spiral of self-pity and worldly sorrow. As the addiction increases, so does the sorrow. Sorrow without salvation is perhaps the emptiest feeling one can experience. Nights and days merge into a confused pattern of pain that leaves their souls emptier with each passing hour. Never feeling the cleansing of forgiveness, nor the joy of bondage broken; the regret grows deeper and deeper. Ultimately, ‘worldly sorrow’, brings death. Its where the road ends, at least on this side of eternity. Part of being a Christian, is making the decision to face mistakes with a ‘godly sorrow’. Repenting of wrong and acknowledging that things must change in our lives. We can’t allow ourselves to fall prey to the temptation of ‘worldly sorrow’, that mires us in self-pity. This life will not last forever, there is a time of final reckoning with our Saviour. Godly sorrow will, one day, bring the fullest joy. “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away” Isaiah 51:11 |
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