Acquainted with Grief

     Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah foretold the kind of experience the Son of God would have on this Earth.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Mosiah 14:3)
      I'd like to focus on the fact that he was acquainted with grief. To me that means he was very familiar with deep sorrows that come from loss and rejection. Now why was that an important part of His life? Isaiah knew that it would be so, and we knew it was definitely fulfilled when His dear cousin John was killed, and as he suffered for our sins in the Garden. I honestly don't completely know the answer, but I think it might have to do with our development of spiritual strength.
     I don't mean to be dramatic, or daresay that I know anything of the grief that Christ knows, but I get to taste it on my mission and hope that this might help you through the grief that you will find. Yesterday I found out that one of the gentlemen we've been visiting and blessing in his home and in the hospital will now be admitted to hospice in some area far away. He's in his early 60s and has just had a world of health problems since he joined the church. He got hit by a truck, was diagnosed with lung cancer, and then couldn't eat for the past month. He knows grief like I have never seen, and I just stood there wishing I could take his pain from him.
     The youth of our ward just went on a pioneer trek this last week. Before they left, they anticipated that the most difficult part might be walking such a long distance, or being away from their phones and family. A majority of them expressed that they found the most difficult part was the women's pull. During this time, the young men had to pull off the handcarts, and allow the women to pull the cart up a good size hill by themselves. The women struggled, but even more so, the young men grieved as they watched their sisters and friends fight their way up the hill. These boys would cry when they talked about how they felt during that time. We often question how God can let tragedy happen to us on this Earth, but I see it as an act of love and strength. If He stepped in to save Christ, none of us would be able to overcome death. I am grateful for the knowledge that we will certainly live again. I know that because I know Christ lives! He is acquainted with grief, and He is acquainted with triumph!