Dear sister,
One of our homeschool mom’s stood in front of our group with tears in her eyes as she recounted her time spent comforting her friend whose husband was killed in a helicopter crash off the shores of Hawaii. She described how his extra boots stood watch at the door and how the mechanical smell of the uniforms he left behind laced the house. The widow and her four children grieved deeply, asked why loudly, and some became silent as they turned inward sadly. They were used to having him absent for long spells, but contemplating him never coming home tore their hearts.
Two days later, I listened to an Indian women give her testimony of how her husband broke her neck and spine, smashed her head on railroad tracks, and pulled her sari so hard it stripped her naked in the streets. She managed to run away only to face the condemnation from women who told her she should have stayed with her husband. She told of her reoccurring blackouts as a result of years of beatings and how she was threatened by the mafia to stop trying to free their slave labor children or else.
Both women cried out to God saying that He must have made a mistake! How could this God they loved, allow this guttural sorrow and pain to his child and then say He is the comforter of the widow, father to the fatherless, and head lifter of the broken? As they were sharing this part of the story, through their tears something remarkable appeared: A smile. Not one that declared madness or hilarity, but one that revealed the hope they had that the scripture was true and their hope secure in Christ. This God declares that He will bind up the brokenhearted, never leave or forsake His children, is able to catch all the burdens we throw at Him, and wipes all our tears away forever. The widow clings to the knowledge that she will dance with her husband again in heaven while the abused knows vengeance is the Lord’s. Because of this, she now rescues those from the slavery and bondage she knew well.
After hearing the testimony of the widow’s friend, my daughter declared she wanted to watch “Inside Out”. As I saw Joy and Sadness try and help Riley out of her newfound pain, I realized the cartoon explained to me something simple: sometimes we need sadness to bring joy. We do not realize the pain of sorrow often alerts us (and others) of our need for encouragement and help. Our emotional marbles cannot be parsed. They are not simply red, blue, yellow, green, or purple. They are often mixed. These women experienced this in their own lives; the body of Christ came in their deepest need to sit, listen, pray, and be the hope they needed when they had little. And joy came in the morning.
Now what does this all mean for us sisters? Oh sister, there can be joy in the sorrow when our faith is grounded on the foundation of the Word. The Bible’s narrative is true. There is sin in the world and bad things happen because of the curse of Eden. This world will never be perfect again until Christ returns and takes us home (which is our Blessed Hope). Yet, from the beginning, God promised a deliverer and rescuer to come to save those who trust in Him. The Old Testament points to the coming One, the gospels reveal this Messiah, while the Letters tell us how to live in light of what Christ did on the cross. Christ endured the suffering of the cross for the joy of our salvation. He is our example of going through pain with a solid, sturdy, joy of trusting and obeying His Father. He had joy in His suffering.
What about us sisters? What are we grounded in? Will we have joy when sorrow and pain knock us off our feet? Will this deep joy come from our knowledge of the Word and it’s hope of a Savior? The assured hope that we serve a Savior that was abandoned, spat on, hated, and cursed, yet trusted that His Father had Him and would never forsake Him? That He found joy in the trial of even death itself? Like these sweet, broken women, feed yourself on the truth of the Word so when storms rage, you too can break into a confident smile because you are loved, will never be forsaken, and that joy comes in the morning because his mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great. Our hope comes with joy!
Joyfully Yours,
Colleen