Thursday, March 19, 2015

Opposites Welcome

One of the most beautiful and yet most bizarre things I have witnessed, and maybe you have too, is a sunny rain storm. I love rainy days. There is something that is so refreshing about a light rain, but rainy days can be interpreted as dreary, depressing days. It is very unusual for the sun's rays to break through the thick clouds on such a day, but when they do... wow. So amazing. Two things that contradict each other so sure do make the perfect combination.

Happiness and sadness. Laughter and tears. Joy and pain.

We would all agree, these are stark opposites. Each represent two things that would not commonly mingle together. Two things that hold opposite sentiments, one holding positive sentiment and the other negative. Can such opposites co-exist?


We all face each day knowing that it can be filled with great joy, laughter, and happiness. However, the same day can be filled with sadness, tears, and sorrow. It has all the potential to swing to either side of the pendulum. But the pendulum does swing both ways. But I want to propose and encourage you not to focus on the sorrow that will eventually follow joy, but to focus on the joy that will follow the sorrow. And more than that, joy and sorrow can exist together.

"To have joy in trials is not to deny pain. It is to recognize the fact that they can exist together. They can co-exist in the same way an expectant mother can go through the travail of birth and still have joy in thinking about what is to come. She has joy because she has the "right focus" as she considers this new baby that will be birthed into the world. In the same way, believers must have the right focus in order to have joy in their multicolored trials."
Know that you can carry joy through the trial you are walking through. You can be clothed in joy while facing sorrow. And here are some ways to do that:

Right thinking: Philippians 4:8

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Right focus: Psalm 121:1-2; 5-6

I look up to the mountains- does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

Right focus: Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.



Whatever you are facing today and whatever you will face tomorrow, choose to have joy even in the sorrow.







1 comment:

  1. Love this. So much truth. Joy that comes out of sorrow and that we work to find in the midst of sorrow is the very best kind :)

    ReplyDelete