To Be Full of Joy
As the warmer weather begins to make an appearance and the daylight hours increase, there tends to be a sense of comfort and hope for most people. Depending on where you are in your grief, it can be sweet or it can be painful. Maybe the sunshine reminds you of sweet memories with a loved one or maybe it brings sadness in knowing we do not get to experience another warm and sunny day together with them here. In the same way the sun will continue rising each day and we experience different feelings about it, God is faithful to be with us each day, despite what feelings we have toward Him.
So often in our grief, we are urged to only speak on the positive, as if leaning on Christ takes away the pain of loss that we were never created to experience any way. When I stop and think of the way we were created to live in a perfect place with no death (cue the story of Eden here), it helps me feel a little more content with struggling to grasp the concept of death and loss. In a perfect world, there is no death. In a perfect world, there is no sickness. In a perfect world, there are no miscarriages. In a perfect world, there are no car crashes. In a perfect world, there are no types of tragic loss. The bad news is, we are not currently living in a perfect world. The good news is, we will someday! Thankfully, as believers, we know this is the hope we cling to that gets us through the day to day. But what do we do in the meantime? What do we do when we walk in the warmth of the sun and feel sadness instead of comfort? What do we do when we wake up irritated for no reason other than we opened our eyes to a world where grief is real?
The verses in Philippians come to mind where Paul is writing to the church in Philippi and encouraging them in the faith. Although not written for experiencing grief over loss of a loved one, I can not help but consider all the losses both the Philippians and Paul were experiencing at the time. Knowing that all loss is valid and can bring different stresses and varying hardships, we can also relate to the people that Paul is choosing to encourage. We, of course, can be encouraged to pray about everything, but just before those verses, in 4:4, we see, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice."
Rejoice means to be full of joy. Replacing that word with its meaning makes it read as, "Be full of joy in the Lord always; again I will say, be full of joy." How? That is explained in verse 8 - by what we fix our minds on. So, in our grief let us focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and anything worthy of praise. Let us fix our minds on the truth that God is holding us, even as we walk through our weakest moments. Let us focus on the One Who is worthy of all honor and praise while also admiring the people of honor He created that we had the privilege of being so close to. Let us think on the pure and lovely thoughts of the promised hope we have in Him and let us reflect on the good memories as excellent moments created by God that we have been able to experience as a gift. If there is anything worthy of praise, even if it is the smallest detail, let us focus on this and, as promised, God WILL give us peace that surpasses all understanding; peace that co-exists with pain and grief; peace that reminds us that, although the loss is real, so is our lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy God. Since He is real, as is the peace He promises, we can be full of joy in the Lord always, including in our grief. So let us do that this week. Let us fix our minds on these things and choose to be full of joy in the Lord, no matter what. Again I say, be full of joy!
