272. Sorrow Not
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Because of sin human beings suffer with many sorrows, but we have the promise that we may not sorrow. At the end of the day, death is the symptom of all of our sorrows; we all feel death with its pains, sorrows, sufferings, sicknesses, and weaknesses; death involves anything that shortens life or diminishes the full enjoyment of life in all its abundance.
“Them which are asleep” in this verse is a reference to the death of loved ones. The sleep refers to the bodies of fellow human beings who have died. In regard to the body death is a sleep, but the body can be and will be awakened in the resurrection. Meanwhile, while we wait loved ones sleep while we are still awake, meaning we are separated. Death is always a separation. We will always during this life experience separation. But the promise is that the death and separation does not have to cause sorrow. Instead of sorrow, we have hope. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. There is the certain promise of resurrection and reunion. We will be reunited with loved ones whose bodies are presently sleeping in death.
We have been separated from God because of sin, but we do not sorrow because we have a union with God by faith in Christ, and we have the promise of reunion with God in an eternal and full union with God once again. We lost that connection with the life of God when we were conceived and born in sin, but it has been restored again in all its fullness through the work of Jesus Christ. In actual experience we will always have sorrow because death separates and because our bodies will die some day; but by faith we will have no sorrow because we have no death. There is no separation because we have union with God and so we have life. By sight, sorrow is unavoidable; by faith sorrow is impossible.
Sorrow not! The cause of sorrow is gone. He is risen; we will rise again. Because He lives, we will live also. This is really an awesome and a powerful promise. It is unbelievable but true: no sorrow. Admittedly, we cannot just say to anyone who is suffering sorrow and loss: “Sorrow not.” Nevertheless, it is a fact that when Jesus speaks to us, “Sorrow not,” it really happens. We are not ignorant; ignorance has been replaced with hope. Faith makes the promise real. Can you believe it? Sorrow not!