Acquainted With Grief

In Isaiah 53:3, it describes the Savior as being "acquainted with grief." I thought this was an interesting word to use. Christ was no stranger to grief. Even leaving aside the infinite abyss of suffering and grief that was the Atonement, Christ wept and cried and grieved and groaned for close friends and for enemies and for all His people. If we are to follow the path that Jesus walked, we cannot be strangers to grief. But being acquainted with grief is different from being close friends with grief, or being in love with grief, or being obsessed with grief. God created us to have joy. Part of obtaining a fullness of joy is to become acquainted with grief, but our relationship with grief should stop at the level of acquaintance. We do not need to cling to grief like we are in some unhealthy or abusive relationship. Acquaintances come and go. We bump into them, sit and chat for a while, and then we part ways. Sure, we may see them every so often, and we don't necessarily try to avoid them, but after we have caught up, we move on. There are going to be plenty of opportunities for us to meet up with grief, as an acquaintance. But that does not mean we ought to try to stalk grief, or allow it or ourselves to overstay our welcome. Sometimes we hold onto our grief for dear life, not able to imagine what our life is going to look like without its constant presence. But with time and healing and with the Lord's grace, we can allow grief to drift back down to the level of a casual acquaintance.