On Good Things and Hard Times and How to Hold onto Joy

Hello friend, 

I hope this finds you well! I’m always thinking of how you might be feeling and what you might be facing. And when my thoughts and prayers line up in a way that I think can help you, I’m prompted to reach out. Which brings me to today’s note… 

The last few days have overflowed with good things, God things.

The last few days have overflowed with tragic news and ongoing heartbreak.

Oh, the tension, right? 

It feels insensitive to post a joyful moment when so many are facing devastation. If you get that, stop your scroll a minute and let’s talk. I’m light years from figuring this all out, but if you’ll let me think aloud while I hammer these keys, maybe some of my musings will help you.

I’ve been thinking about how God asks us to “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep”. That’s not a new instruction. And yet, as familiar as those words are, I’ve only recently began processing the fact that they are in the same verse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

How is it I’ve never realized we’re called to do both, at the same time? It feels like I must choose one or the other because surely I can’t let my heart weep and rejoice at the same time without going straight running crazy. But there’s the voice of the Lord again, telling me I’m meant to, telling me I can.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

I hear Him calling me to find Him, to lean on Him in the tension. I hear Him agreeing that I can’t hold all the weeping and all the joy in my own heart, not in my own strength, but He has equipped me for such living when I’m drawing on His.

See, my misguided tendency is to surrender joy, but I must remember that I’ll surrender my strength with it.

The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10

And so, with God’s instructions on my heart and His praise on my lips, I’ll aim to do both. I will weep and intercede for the suffering, while I rejoice with the joyful. And hopefully, in the living out of both, I will shine the light He put in me for such a time as this. Join me, believer. Jesus is alive in you for such living, too.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. Psalm 28:7

Forward your newsletter to a prayer warrior and help them remember to hold onto their joy while they pray. 

Hugs,
Shellie

P.S. A slew of good things from my bestie joining me on a road trip where I spoke to a lovely gathering of Jesus followers, to glimpses of the grands competing in their favorite sports, and a Sunday evening on the farm with the Beloved Farmer who surprised the grands with a remote control car. Oh, and then there’s Ken Ken the Baby Friend adding all the cheese.