Mourning Joy

Psalm 30:5 (NLT) For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Do you ever seem to be going through a night that doesn’t seem to be ending? The weeping and reasons for weeping seems to be continuous? Like Solomon declared in Ecclesiates 3:1, 4 “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. …A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” There seem to be seasons in our lives that are for sorrow – endurance training is a good term for these seasons.

These seasons train us to endure hardship and learn the same lesson Paul boasted in, “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). That’s why I’ve titled this “mourning joy” – we can still experience joy while in a season of mourning. You can say, “yeah, right!” but I have experienced this at different times in my life. If you are willing to submit your sorrow to God – not allow it to cage you in a prison – you will experience unspeakable joy without the circumstance of mourning moving.

My everyday wisdom tip for this lesson: praise God for the lessons learned in the season…even if it seems counter to how you usually praise Him. For example, if your season of weeping is due to physical pain – give thanks for the pain and how it is drawing you close to His healing hands. Thank Him for how the pain is teaching you to depend on His strength and endurance. If your weeping is due to financial stress, praise Him for your needs and that they are showing you how He is the ONLY ONE who can provide for you and your family. These are not prayers of petitions – where you are asking for Him to change anything; believe it or not, He already knows your needs and how to meet them. These are times of simply praising Him for who He is and what He is doing in your life at this time in your life. A “vacation” from asking and worrying. After I complete these “vacations of praise” with God, He has shown me grace in each moment. He has revealed a place of rest (not that the pain or hurt ended). It has been like Moses describes in Exodus 33:12-23, 34:5-7 – Moses essentially demands the Lord’s presence stay with Him and the Israelites. He tells God that no one will know they are God’s people if He is not with them. God then hid Moses in a safe place and showed him His glory and declared the greatness of who He is on behalf of His people. Your praises can be demanding of God just like Moses. You can be thankful yet remind God of His goodness promised to you…it’s not asking, it’s telling. God desires a passionate relationship with you. Submitting to Him your pain, and praising Him in the midst of it, shows Him (and you) your trust in Him to change the circumstance in His timing, knowing HE WILL CHANGE THE CIRCUMSTANCE AND YOU IN SOME WAY, and it will be for your good (Romans 8: 28). That hope and promise from God will make you smile and bring you an unshakeable, unspeakable joy, where the pain seems momentary and joy endures through the tears..

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