Man of Sorrows, and Acquainted with Grief


I sat down to write a post about the health struggle I’ve been dealing with for the past four months. However, something else has been on my mind. It’s these phrases. “Man of Sorrows, what a name.” “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” On Good Friday, my Bible app gave me the verse for the day. I was running late as I packed to go home for Easter, picked up new heart meds, and left for work. But something caught my eye. The verse was from Isaiah 53 and I knew that was a good Easter chapter. I’m not going to lie; I thought that maybe reading through the chapter as I ran out the door would put in the right mood for Easter. Little did I realize just how much it would give me to think on. 
I didn’t even finish the chapter that morning. I got stuck on verse 3, which has a phrase that goes like this, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…” I must have read that part ten times. What does it even mean? It kind of hit me like a load of bricks. Jesus, fully man/fully God, heir to an eternal throne, our Savior, knew sorrow. He was acquainted with grief. He felt pain. He felt being deserted by his friends. He felt the pain of His Father, the Almighty God, ignore His cries for deliverance. 
Think about it for a moment. When we’re struggling and crying out, we are not alone. We have a God who listens and cares and has a plan laid out for us. But at what cost? What cost does this comfort have? The payment was complete and utter separation from the Creator of the World, the Alpha and Omega. This is something that as a Christian, we will never have to face. 
I was ruminating on this throughout the day and as I began to take a greatly increased amount of my heart meds. The last several months have been incredibly difficult. I have incredible friends and family who have supported me through this. However, that does not mean I don’t still have moments where I feel absolutely alone in my struggle. Honestly, these moments are way more often than I am comfortable admitting. I have struggled with panic and depression. I have sat crying on the phone with my mom begging for answers that aren’t there. There is nothing comforting about hearing an electrophysiologist say that abnormal might be your normal and we just have to figure out how to control it. I have been incredibly passionately, angry and I have been completely numb. I have cried to, yelled at, and begged God to give answers. 
There’s only one answer I need though. I unwittingly saw it that Good Friday morning. Our Savior is a man of sorrows. He is acquainted with grief. He weeps with me, like He wept with Mary and Martha for Lazarus in John 11. He feels my grief and my fear. He knows how terrified and helpless I am. He understands my doubts and uncertainties. And you know what? He loves me just the same. I am a child of God and an heir to His Throne, only because Jesus gave His spot up. His sorrow and grief bought my place with God. How incredible is that? There’s no way in the world I deserve that. There aren’t even words to describe the awe-inspiring feeling. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
I know what you’re thinking. Is everything ok now? How can this magically make everything better? Honestly, it doesn’t. I’m still a sinner. I will still struggle with putting my trust in God. But on the other hand, I am helpless, but not hopeless. Even in my darkest times, I will still have a Savior who gave absolutely everything so that I will never fall farther than God’s hand.
“Guilty, vile, and helpless, we, Spotless Lamb of God was He; Full redemption—can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
-Philip Bliss
“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
-Isaiah 53: 3-5
Man of Sorrows, what a name
~Rachel

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