Sadness is a strange and awkward companion that travels with all of us from time to time.  It attaches itself to us with devastating effects upon our outward appearance.  Our somber countenance is a dead giveaway that we have been invaded by an unhappy circumstance.  We cannot always hide the mood of sadness behind artificial smiles and forced optimism.  It cuts deep into the heart of who we are and eventually affects everything we say and do.

Sadness is the culprit that causes us to miss out on life's happiest moments.  It takes over our emotions and completely immobilizes our ability to laugh.  How sad when sorrow and despair become the dominant ingredients of our otherwise happy disposition.  Life looses some of its meaning when our mood is one of melancholy.  Hope struggles to survive and joy is shattered when gloom takes over.

We live in a day that spreads sadness with ever increasing effectiveness.  We are inundated with news that focuses upon the tragic, the destructive, and the evil aspects of our society.  As a population of people drawn to the bizarre and the unusual, we seem to thrive more on bad new than on good news.  Bad news tends to be more dramatic while good news seems tame and uneventful.  Shock and horror are the things that gets our adrenalin flowing.

No wonder we are basically a sad society.  Our steady diet of gloomy information makes a demoralizing contribution to the unhealthiness and unhappiness of our inner being.  No wonder drugs and alcohol are used in excess.  It is the only way some folk feel they can cope with the deep, deep sadness of their soul.

Others of us have any number of ways to escape the feelings of loneliness that grip our souls.  We work ourselves to exhaustion.  We play ourselves silly.  We travel ourselves dizzy.  All of this and more, simply to escape the trail off sadness that follows us like a plague.

Our greatest need, however, is not escape, but a legitimate way to resolve our inner gloom.  Simon Peter, comes to our rescue by advising us to cast all our anxiety on Jesus because He cares for us.  The hymn writer tells us to "take it to the Lord in prayer." He who was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief understands the depth of our sadness.  We can spread our stories of despair before Him, no matter how awkwardly expressed, and know He cares for us.

No sadness is too trite and no grief is too exaggerated that our Lord will not hear us.  There is no fear of rejection because our Lord Himself extends the invitation by saying, "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.