There’s an old song by Doug Stone which says, “They oughta put warning labels on those sad country songs.” It’s true—-and it’s not just country music. Perhaps for you it was: I Can’t Make You Love Me or Say Something or Everybody Hurts, or Remember When or that dad gum Christmas Shoes, but there’s some songs that sneak up on you for the first time and you practically need to pull the car over.
But you know what else oughta have warning labels? Sad movies.
The NCBC Kids staff this week successfully relaunched of all our Sunday and Wednesday ministries. To celebrate we set up our own private theater room here at church and dialed up a movie which claimed to be an inspiring story of faith in the midst of adversity. It was. But it was also a total tear-jerker.
I felt a little silly at the end of the movie. We were supposed to bond as a team over an exciting season of success. Instead we bonded over puffy eyes and wads of snotty tissues. What was meant to lift everyone’s spirits sorta crashed and burned. Oh well.
We are living in a super weird time when even the events that are meant to be happy can make us feel sad. Lots of us are struggling under an overwhelming emotional cloak of melancholy, anxiety, depression or darkness. It doesn’t take a song or a movie to bring us to tears these days—-simply living through 2020 is enough.
You’re not weird and you’re not alone. If you find yourself there—-sad for no apparent reason, increasingly listless, irritated, or legitimately depressed, please tell someone and get help. The staff at NCBC can with full confidentiality refer you to a good counselor or therapist. But please, whatever you do, don’t try to bear this burden alone.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:2-5
I am praying that you would truly feel God’s benefits: His steadfast love and enduring mercy for you.
