Thought for the Day

Verse 13 - One can tell the condition of a person's heart by looking at his countenance (his facial appearance). We all know when people are happy; we can tell by the sparkle in their eyes, their smile and their cheerful countenance. When they are old, happy people have "smile wrinkles" instead of those caused by frowning. Facial expressions reveal a lot about a person. Even children will speak up when they observe an unkind face, and they might say, "That is a mean man!"

Sorrow in the heart can also be read on the face. When we are troubled, we've probably heard someone ask us what was wrong. We all experience things in life that break our hearts. If sorrow of heart continues indefinitely, it can break our spirits. How can we recover from heartbreak? We must give the situation to the Lord and ask Him to heal our grief. If we have lost a loved one, we can enjoy the good memories, but we must not allow the enemy to torment us with prolonged grief. God can fill the emptiness from the loss of a mate, a child, a friend, or anything else. Jesus died, not only to give us eternal life, but abundant life now. Since He Himself bore all of our iniquities, pains, sicknesses, griefs, and sorrows, we do not have to bear them. We can receive our healing and deliverance by faith.

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Verse 14 - Those who have godly understanding always want to learn more about God and His ways. We can ask Him for knowledge to overcome every trial we face. God is bigger than our grief, pain, and any problem that we will ever face. He is always there to help us to overcome anything the enemy is trying to do. He will rescue us in our time of need. However, we must not be like the fool who feeds on his own folly, continually airing his troubles and blaming others (including God) for his circumstances. People like this feed on self-pity. When sorrow overwhelms us, we need to remember the little phrase, "this too, shall pass." God is eternal and He has good plans for our futures.