July 27th
Tears, Joy & Pain
So many things come in pairs. From the animals that went into the ark, clothing, even parts of the body. But have you ever thought of the emotions: JOY AND TEARS?
It seems that both need each other. For there is joy out of pain. A poet wrote, "I saw in my dreams two fountains flowing side by side. One was a fountain of joy and the other of tears. A voice said to me 'These two fountains flow together all through human life.' God makes them flow together that from one his children may learn GRATITUDE and from the other TRUST."
We need to experience more joy. Sometimes it is promoted by another. For example, one can be in a room of tired workers, and someone comes in singing or laughing and it effects the group. Can't explain it, but JOY is at work. The tired person gets a "shot in the arm". Even music is necessary to soldiers on the march if they would keep their strength and courage. So, that which produces joy is necessary in our march through life. However, when things are not going as "we would like" is is hard to have joy. Right? Yet of Jesus it was said, (Hebrews 1:9)
"God, even thy God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows."So, we owe it to those with whom we come in contact to appear with cheerful faces - radiating hope and trust. We owe it to God, as well.
But, here is where the TEARS come in. There is joy out of pain. (Now that is a hard pill to swallow!!) One person wrote that that had a bird and that little fellow would sing as if his throat would burst. YET, remember where he is. He is caged. Now, you, my friend, may feel caged in a particular situation. What joy can come from it! Fanny Crosby could have never written "I shall see Him face to face," were it not for the fact that she had never seen. Her "cage" helped her to gain remarkable spiritual insight.
Remember it is the tree that suffers that is capable of polish. When a craftsman wants a particular curved line of beauty in the grain of a maple, he cuts down the tree that has been twisted by the storm, buffeted by the elements - even taped for the syrup.
Am I making sense?
My prayer for you!
Lord, it is not easy going through a rough time. I ask, in the name of Jesus, that this one rightly divide the joy and the tears - giving both to you as an offering.
Amen