Imagine feeling deep sorrow and overwhelming joy at the same time—because that’s exactly how Jesus lived, and how you can live too.
SHAUNA: Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Have you ever cried and laughed at the same time like Joni and I have?
JONI: Sure, you have. There are many times we experience joy and pain at the same moment. Think of it: A father stands at the altar, and he sighs deeply as he gives his daughter’s hand in marriage – it is both a painful, yet a very sweet moment. Or how about the young couple who are called to serve on the mission field; they are happy about serving overseas, yet sad, so sad, to leave precious family and friends. Or, how about a mother who watches her son languish behind prison bars, but yet, she sees that prison bringing her rebellious young son to repentance and salvation. That mother is both sad and glad at the same time. When you’re a Christian, you are almost always experiencing both emotions simultaneously. And 2 Corinthians 6 says so; it says that we are “sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” And you know what? Jesus was the same way.
Isaiah 53:3 says that “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.” And yet. Yet! The Lord Jesus also knew great joy; joy that we can only taste of. And what is He doing right before He goes to the cross; just hours before all that horrible suffering, what’s He doing but sharing words of great encouragement with His closest friends. And even says to His Father in John 17, “… I say these things to them so that they might have the full measure of my joy within them.” To me, that’s so amazing. That the Man of Sorrows – a man of suffering is also the Lord of joy. All His life, Jesus was sorrowful yet always rejoicing.
And you can do the same, friend. You will have your sorrows, yes, you will; but you can be rejoicing at the same time. The Bible says you can. And if you’re wondering how it’s possible, it’s simply having God’s point of view. Think of it: long before time, God knew that humans would fall into sin. And because of that sin, God knew that suffering would be let loose into the world. But God allowed the fall of mankind because he knew how He would resolve it. God knew He’d send His son Jesus to die, that His church would eventually triumph through many trials, that Satan’s fingers would be pried off this planet, that justice would be served at the final judgment, that heaven would make up for it all, and that through it all, God would receive the glory — and we would know more joy — than if the fall had never happened. Wow! It’s why, when it comes to our suffering, God can feel great sadness yet also be filled with joy. Because God sees enough of the coming ecstasy in heaven to make up for the present agony on earth.
And that is the point of view He wants you to have. And the more you cultivate it; the more you become like Christ and see things as He does, the more you become like the Man of sorrows yet the Lord of joy, the more you become like Him, the more you will see things His way. I know I do. I’m convinced that the joy I’ll experience in heaven, right now, this moment, makes up for all my present hardships in this wheelchair. It is why I’m sorrowful yet always rejoicing. Oh, friend, when it comes to your afflictions in this world, please take God’s point of view. Soon, He’s going to close the curtain on sin and suffering, and Satan, and you’re going to experience more joy than you can possibly imagine. Let that thought today, make up for every hardship you experience, and you will find that you, too, can be sorrowful yet always rejoicing.
© Joni and Friends