This week a single sentence in one of my daily devotionals in Jesus Always struck my heart. The sentence that has stuck with me for a week was in the January 8 devotional and says In my presence deep sorrow can coexist with even deeper joy. This sentence reminded me of two sermons I have given at Covenant on life giving us both deep sorrow and joy at the same time.
The first time I experienced this feeling was early in my professional career. I got an email from a friend early one morning telling me about a family of four that were good friends of his family being off at a faraway destination for a family vacation. They went out on a boat tour, bad weather came up and the boat capsized, killing all aboard. I remember being so sad for my friend’s deep loss. Then later that same day, I received another email from a different friend telling me he and his wife had just had their first grandchild born that day. I remember feeling so happy for this friend, you could sense his great joy in the words of his email. Then, almost immediately, I felt guilty about feeling this joy when I remembered my other friend who had suffered such a loss that same day.
I believe that guilt feeling was due to my Godly immaturity at that stage of my life. It was my first real experience with these mixed feelings of both grief and joy at the same time and how can they coexist in our hearts at the same time. I have learned through experience that we are to always be joyful in knowing that He is present with us, and watching over us, and preparing us for our eternal life with Him in spite of any current circumstances surrounding us.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We are always to be joyful because God is with us always … in good times and bad!
This also helps prepare us for when we have issues come up in our own lives or in the lives of others close to us or even those unknown to us. A common and popular saying is that A joy shared is multiplied, a burden shared is divided. What a great message, it tells us that we can share in the joy and in the burdens of others, certainly if we know them but also even if we don’t.
For example, I still vividly remember a news story from many years ago. A regional jet crashed when taking off early in the morning from the Lexington KY regional airport, an airport similar to ours in Gainesville. Every person on that flight lost their life. The story focused on a young couple, a popular athlete and cheerleader at the university, who had just graduated, gotten married the day before and were beginning their life together with a honeymoon to Hawaii. I guess the story stuck with me for so long because such an accident could have happened here in Gainesville, affecting people I would know and love, and it could have happened to Cindy and me. I cannot begin to imagine the devastation in the lives of the families and friends of all the passengers and crew lost that morning and especially for that young couple who they and their family had such great joy and hope quickly turn into such unimaginable grief.
Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
This scripture commands us to join in the blessings, honor, and welfare of others regardless of our own personal situation. Likewise, we are to be sensitive and compassionate to the hardships and sorrows of others … so we can multiply their joy and divide their burden!
I pray every day for my biological family and my church family, for people I know very well and wish nothing but the best for them according to God’s plans. But I can and should also extend such feelings for those who I do not know at all, for those who I know are having extreme hardships at that moment and who I believe can feel God’s presence through me and others who are praying for them.
How often have we heard someone thank us for our prayers, acknowledging that they felt God’s presence through our combined efforts. Well, even those who we do not know can also feel God’s presence if we sincerely and solemnly pray for them and their difficult times. The above scripture does not limit our prayers to those we know, but to everyone.
Philippians 3:12 – Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
I know that I can never reach the sinless nature of Christ Jesus, but it is important that I continue to live my life seeking to grow and feel His Joy as I draw closer to Him, and to become a little bit more like him and a little bit less like me … as the song says. No matter how old I am or how long I may have left here on earth, I need to commit to changing and growing in Him more every day that He sustains me.