A great motivator for ministry …

“Good grief, Charlie Brown!” was the famous refrain of the feisty “Lucy” in the Charles Schultz enduring cartoon series, “Peanuts.”

While Lucy used the phrase as an exclamation, she may have unearthed a nugget of truth for us: some grief can be good. Take a look at this gem from Ecclesiastes 1:18 …

“For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”

And therein lies one answer as to why many purposely do not seek wisdom, why many people don’t want to be bothered with the truth.

They do not want the grief.

The world tells us the greater knowledge we have, the more we will celebrate humanity. Scripture tells us the wiser we become, the more real knowledge we have, the more we grieve at what we see. Humankind, left to itself, doesn’t display and foster the beauty God has implanted within it. Instead, it erodes, degrades, and destroys it.

It is a grievous thing.

Grief over that which is broken and lost stirs the deepest of motivations for us to strive for healing and seek redemption. We’re not likely to pour our hearts and lives into making people or places more beautiful until we first understand, see, and then become grieved.

What is your understanding of this world, and the people in it? Do you grieve for the broken and lost, or do you ignore the truth? How does grief spurred by wisdom motivate you to minister to others?

Scotty