Bluer Than Blue

Are you feeling blue? There was a song called “Bluer Than Blue”, and Willie Nelson sang one called “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”. In Bible times, people weren’t depressed; they had “a downcast spirit”, or were sorrowful. Did you know that our Bible also tells us that sorrow is good? Ecc. 7:3 says “Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.” Sorrow makes us examine our lives, contemplate, and have sympathy for others who are downcast. Did you know that great things can come out of sorrow? Many of our greatest writers and artists were very depressed. And out of that came wonderful, classic books, and beautiful artwork. It has long been a theory of mine that great things come out of great sorrow. A writer of Psalms said that his soul was disturbed and downcast within him. And look at how beautifully he wrote about it. Paul tells us to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, and that God comforts the downcast. He says something else, too. Godly sorrow produces earnestness, longing, concern, and readiness to see justice done (2 Cor. 7). Being happy and satisfied all the time is not good for us. We can only examine our lives, have true empathy for others, and cry out to God in our sorrow. A poem puts it this way. Walking with pleasure feels great but, oh, the things we learn when we walk with sorrow.