Where Joy and Sorrow Meet

“There’s a place of quiet stillness ‘tween the light and shadows reach,
Where the hurting and the hopeless seek everlasting peace,
Words of men and songs of angels whisper comfort bittersweet,
Mending grief and life eternal where joy and sorrow meet. There’s a place of thirst and hunger where the roots of faith grow deep,
And there is rain and rolling thunder when the road is rough and steep,
There is hope in desperation, there is victory in defeat,
At the cross of restoration where joy and sorrow meet.”

Lyrics from ‘Where and Sorrow Meet’ – Avalon

The place where joy and sorrow meet has become a very familiar place for us. It is the same place where there is victory in defeat, and where there is hope in desperation. It is a place where the spirit battles the flesh. We are immersed and living in this paradox. It is a constant mental pull in opposite directions, but its one that we are incredibly grateful for. It is a pull from God that brings us out of the pits of despair and into a place of hope.

If this concept is confusing, perhaps there is a common experience that may prove more relatable. John 16:21 talks about the mixed emotions that are experienced in the midst of childbirth. Scripture reads, “When a woman is giving birth, she has SORROW because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for JOY that a human being has been born into the world.” That pain brings forth an overwhelming happiness that makes all the shed tears, all the pain and all the anguish worth it, right? That moment is the place where joy and sorrow meet.

We constantly have feelings that Wesley missed out. He never learned to ride the paw patrol bike he got for Christmas, or learn to catch with the new baseball glove we bought him the day of the accident, he didn’t get to go to summer camps, have a first day of school, play sports, or walk across the stage to receive a high school diploma… The list goes on and on. When we look at life through a spiritual lens, however, Wesley missed out on absolutely nothing. In fact, he avoided the hurdles and obstacles of life that most of us and our children will have to overcome. He took a shortcut straight to the finish line. If it is all of our goal to get to heaven, how did Wesley “miss out”? He didn’t. We are the ones that missed out on watching him experience those things, no doubt, but our love for Wesley is so strong that we wouldn’t want him to leave the perfection and beauty he is experiencing now just to experience those earthly milestones. In fact, there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that if he could tell us anything today, he would tell us we’re missing out. This, again, is that place where joy and sorrow meet. It is the place where our hearts are filled with immense loss and sorrow but God fills us with this remarkable and beautiful hope and joy of Heaven.

We have regular feelings of desperation and defeat. Those moments where the grief overwhelms our soul and takes us to our knees. The moments when we feel like we are treading water in the middle of a tsunami of deep loss. The HOPE in desperation and the VICTORY in defeat is the eternal. This overwhelming pain and immense grief are temporal; thus, we strive to cling to the hope and the victory which is eternity in a place where tears are wiped away in the presence of our great God and loving Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s important to note that we serve a God that is no stranger to paradoxes. We are told to rejoice in suffering in Romans 5:3-5. Matthew 5:4 says “blessed are those who mourn”. We are so blessed that God that truly understands those conflicting feelings and the pull between the spirit and the flesh. We recognize that its completely healthy to feel the hurt, the pain, the sadness and all the difficult emotions that come with grief. These feelings don’t always have to be followed by optimism. Somedays, it’s hard to pull ourselves from the sadness to focus on the joy. And that’s ok. But when we make the shift to the spiritual and eternal, it is then that we can experience the JOY in the midst of sorrow, the HOPE in desperation, and the VICTORY in defeat; and its then that we can feel the immeasurable and invaluable comfort and peace that truly surpasses all understanding.

Additionally, there’s another place where joy and sorrow meet. There is a sorrow, godly sorrow, that overcomes us when we recognize, with a penitent heart, that our sins and transgressions have separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). The sorrow that we experience when we realize that we are not living in accordance with God’s word, and thus, are not on the narrow path that leads to heaven (Matt 7:13-14) Thanks be to God that because of His goodness, love, grace and mercy, this sorrow can be followed up with Joy. We can live with the beautiful assurance of Heaven. The bible teaches that if we have heard and believe the gospel (Romans 10:17), repent of our sins (Acts 2:38), confess Jesus as the Christ (Romans 10:10) and are baptized with much water to wash away our sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:36-39, 1 Peter 3:21) then we can know we have been made innocent again, like all children including our sweet Wesley so we may join him again some day in heaven. For further study on this, CLICK HERE. In John 14:15 Jesus tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Oh how we love Him and will strive to be obedient and sing His praises today and the days to come. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!