Recently I spoke with someone who had faced a bitter disappointment that led to great sorrow. It’s often natural for us to try to pull someone out of sorrow and push them toward joy…but I feel that is a disservice.
There is a time to mourn.
We must make room for the sorrows we face, so when the joy of the morning comes it’s far sweeter!
There’s a balance we must find in life. Growing up in the church it seemed nobody was given room to fully process the difficulties in life…the sorrow and disappointment and things that cause anger. Instead, we were bolstered up with Bible arrows and told to press right into being joyful and accepting. But this scripture shows me that we need a time between that…
Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound. Proverbs 25:20
And this one…
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
And…
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The current time we live in seems to stall out on the sorrow part…victimhood has become a commodity to the world. That is also not to be so. We aren’t to camp in any of these things, but to continue walking through them.
Our lives are a journey. This journey meanders through many different seasons, but we can’t embrace one until we release the last. The only permanent thing is God. If we are walking with God, then we will begin to appreciate the beauty of every season. We will find the purpose of each season. We will begin to grow through each season…and that, my friends, is the true purpose…to allow each season we encounter to do its work in bringing us to maturity in Christ.
So, live in each moment, but only remain in Christ.
365 Days in the Presence 