in the grips of sorrow

Sorrow is a heavy burden, one which is quite often carried alone. Even in the midst of family and friends, one person's grief is so individual--so unique to that person--that it can't be shared with someone else in its entirety. When our hearts are breaking, and no one understands, it is easy to feel completely alone. Abandoned. Like the psalmist, we say,

"For my days come and go, vanishing like smoke,

and my bones are charred like bricks of a hearth.

My heart is beaten down like grass withered and scorched in the summer heat;

I can't even remember to eat.

My body is shaken by my groans;

my bones cling to my skin, holding on for dear life.

I am like a solitary owl in the wilderness;

I am a lost and lonely screech owl at home in the rubble.

I stare at the ceiling, awake in my bed;

I am alone, a defenseless sparrow perched on a roof."

~Psalm 102:4-7

Grief is a terrible burden to bear. It can bring us to our knees, break our hearts, and crush our spirits.

Thankfully, when no one else can help to bear our burdens--when no one else can see or understand the grief that has us in the pit--we have a God who knows our pain. He knows sorrow. He has watched His children turn against Him over and over again. He watched His Son as He was scorned and rejected by the very people He was sent to save, then watched as He was hung on a cross. Our God is no stranger to grief.

That's what makes it believable when He makes a promise:

"I will satisfy those who are weary,

and I will refresh every soul in the grips of sorrow."

~Jeremiah 31:25

God knows our sorrow and how it wears us down. When no one else can understand, we can be assured that He does. And He will come down into the pit to lift us up to walk with Him, refreshed.