How God Takes Grief and Gives Gladness

When you are going through challenges in life, it is easy to think that it will never get better. Extreme blows to your health make it hard to think that healing is just not happening. Losing loved ones feels like your heart has been ripped out. Not getting the outcome you expectantly desired hits hard. It is tempting to fall into the trap of thinking that grief is all you got.  

This morning I read John 16:21-22 which says, "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

What would we live like if we truly believed when Jesus said that there will be a time when “no one will take away your joy”? Certainly, Bible characters who lived this example must have believed that complete joy amidst grief is a gift from God. One of my favorite stories about joy breaking down the chains of grief is Paul and Silas. The Bible says in Acts 16:25-26, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose.” 

Can you imagine if the first thing we did in the midst of our despair was to break into song about our Savior? Chains would be broken. Healing would take over. Matters that seem colossally challenging would crumble. You don’t have to give birth to a child or be in prison to start discovering how God takes grief and gives gladness! Open the gift of gladness and God will unwrap your grief.

In His Joys,

Hannah Elise Abbott