Promise of Joy

I have written before regarding the intermingling of sorrow and joy. Thus, it is with a heavy burden, trepidation, and even some hesitancy I set pen to paper to start our week of Joy this advent season. 

I have settled in 2 Corinthians Chapter 7 and I encourage you to read through this chapter with me- perhaps even the entire book. I’m caught in verse 4, “in all our troubles my joy knows no bound.” Indeed, this limitless and boundless joy is what my broken heart longs for. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, so as a believer I know the fruit is there. Yet the broken sad part of me yearns for more. Then I think “am I not already living in such boundless joy?” For I would have imagined the death of my daughter would be a hard and fast boundary line if His joy had limits. So, here I am. I definitely do not always feel joyous. Our humanity, our very presence on this broken imperfect earth sets forth a physical limitation on my joy. But in His grace and power He is not bound by my personhood nor physical location. His joy, along with all His promises (referenced in verse 1), slip right through those supposed limits, like oil through fingers carrying the promise of joy clear into eternity. Our joy is not rooted in this world. Our sorrow is, but not our joy. 

As Paul reminds us in verse 4 our joy is not defined nor limited by our “troubles”. The enemy is not satisfied or pleased. He would have us believe otherwise. There are “conflicts on the outside and fears within” (verse 6). Conflict. I struggle with such a cavalier word, but the truth is there. When he says “this body of ours had no rest” (verse 5) Paul is talking about a different set of troubles, a different sorrow than the specific ones I (and perhaps you) am facing but his words still hold truth and application. I’m reminded one’s body, one’s heart will find no full rest from grief, sorrow, or trouble this side of Heaven. 

“But God" (verse 6). There is a hope, an expectation in these two words, and thus Paul brings us full circle to Chapter 1 when he says, “But God who comforts the downcast comforted us”. He is indeed the God of ALL comfort. Therefore, I realize even in the midst of boundless joy there is a need still for comfort only He can provide. I hope that’s as reassuring for you as it is for me. Just because my family (and perhaps yours) is in dire need of comfort does not mean His joy is elusive or somehow unavailable to us any longer on this side of Heaven. We absolutely long more wholeheartedly, desperately even, for the fullness of the joy of Heaven. How could we not? But here is where we are, and here is where He meets us- Jehovah Shammah. 

In this particular passage Paul is expounding upon the comfort brought to him by God’s people. While God’s people are not the ultimate source they are a conduit of God’s comfort. I can identify with Paul in this as God’s people have been a tremendous comfort to us. As much as kind words, gentle cards, thoughtful gifts, and selfless services have meant to our family these are not the things Paul is referring to as means of comfort and thereby feeding his God-given joy. This resonates with my soul. Deeply. Paul states it was their longing, their deep sorrow, their ardent concern for him. It was their ability and willingness to step into his sorrow (no matter if foreign to them, be it different from mine, or whether from circumstance or sin). It was their lament, their willingness to join him in a grief that was not their own. Yet they allowed it to become their own inasmuch as it could. Thus, Paul is able to say, “my joy was greater than ever” (Verse 7). Comfort, joy, conflict, sorrow- all threads in a beautiful tapestry I only now see in part. One day I will see it in whole. There is sorrow in the life of the believer, and to believe otherwise is foolish. But we do not sorrow unto death as the world does. We sorrow unto life: life with Him and the expectation of joy made complete.