Tuesday, I could not have known how much I would need the verses on joy that I posted. I had such great expectation and anticipation of receiving more of the joy of the Lord as I spent time in His Presence. I flew over the part about turning my mourning into joyful dancing and having my clothes of mourning taken away to be replaced with clothing of joy! Surely, the mourning part was referring to the depths of mourning I've experienced throughout my life, and I was free to skip right to the joyful dancing part.
That's when I got a very sobering phone call about someone I love dearly who is in a desperate situation. I can only pray for her. I'm too far away to physically help and even if I were near, I'm not sure I could do much anyway. But I immediately felt the heaviness of true mourning welling up in my heart. No! No! NO! I want JOY not mourning!
In the last three days, I determined to be in joy. But it wasn't working for me. Then I got a text from a dear friend saying, "If you don't mourn, you miss the joy of knowing His comfort." And the tears sprang forth.
Since her text, I went back to Psalm 30:11-12, "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!"
These verses aren't telling us that mourning is wrong. They aren't telling us not to mourn. These verses prove that JESUS WILL TURN OUR MOURNING TO JOYFUL DANCING! They are a promise! And I as I am allowing myself to mourn, I can feel the songs of praise rising little by little. And in all things, even in my mourning, I am sensing in deeper ways than ever before that I can simply be rejoicing in God, my beautiful, wonderful, loving Savior. Press in to joy, my friends, even if you have to go through the mourning first. HE is worth it.
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