Sorrow turned into joy

[Written in February.] "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." John 16:20
I'm working on an article with scriptures that enable us to deal with the intense sorrow we are experiencing because of Mimi's homegoing. (She lived beyond the "threescore years and ten" of Psalm 90, but it certainly didn't seem long enough to me! I miss her tremendously--as all my children and grandchildren knew I would.) And yet I'm happy that she's happy and we know she is because "Blessed" is the word scripture uses: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Rev. 14:13 "Blessed" means "favored of the Lord" and that she is! but it also means "happy." So Minnie is happy--and joyful and praising God. Of that we can be confident. And with that we can be comforted.

In both memorial services (in Washington and in Arkansas) I mentioned a couple of ways God gives us to deal with that terrible pain of sorrow. I'll remind you in just a moment. But the other day, Jeannine sent an additional way to help us with our sorrow. She was reading J.I.Packer's wonderful book, Knowing God and came across this quotation from Spurgeon:
> "And whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead." (Written by Spurgeon when he was 20 yrs old.)

> In other words meditate on the attributes of God and rejoice in them in order to help comfort you in your sorrow. I find that so interesting because during Mimi's last months of her illness I deliberately often read to her about the attributes of God--from many different books including Knowing God and several by Spurgeon and from Charnock's The Existence and Attributes of God. When we speak of the attributes of God we are talking about who God is, in Himself. That's the glory of God: who He is and what He does--and has done and continues to do. What a great encouragement to us to see the glory of God--even dimly as through a glass.

> At the memorial services I told you that Jesus shows us the way we must deal with sorrow is to look beyond the sorrow to the joy that is yet to come, brought to us by Him who "has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Isa. 53:4 "You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy," Jesus told the disciples. John 16:20 It is one of the most remarkable experiences with God for your heart to be breaking and for you to cry out in agony to God and at the same time experience that supernatural joy that God alone can give in the midst of your sorrow. "As sorrowful and yet always rejoicing." 2 Cor. 6:10 And to calm your spirit, He floods your soul with "His peace that passeth understanding." "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3

That is precisely what sustained Minnie all during those long, hard months and she often said so. "God has given me His peace, " she would tell those who came to see her or called her on the telephone. "Peace I leave with you," Jesus said, "my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27
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But your sorrow is still painful. And what helps us there is to know that we are not alone. He's with us every step of the way, comforting and strengthening us. Jesus experienced the depths of sorrow, too. He knows it omnisciently, of course, because He is God, but He also knows it experientially. "In all their affliction he was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Isaiah 63:9

> I mentioned another way to deal with sorrow and bear the pain was to have a thankful spirit. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18 Thankfulness characterized Minnie's attitude all during those months of uncertainty and living "one day at a time." She was always thankful to God and to me and to everyone who helped her, even for the simplest things like a cup of ice to help her with nausea or a pillow to make her more comfortable.

> Be thankful for God's promises. And for His purposes in what He does. And be thankful for God's presence and for His peace that He gives you. But especially hold onto the joy that is yet to come. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5

> Sorrow is temporary--as a lodging in the night and God will renew your spirit and things will seem so different when you're patient in the darkness and wait on the Lord. What joy and glory awaits us in the morning when we are taken home by the Lord Himself.
"So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." John 16:22
--Pastor Burnside
> We are not alone, God is with us.
> We are never alone, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> And God will make us strong, for God is with us.
> We will press on, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> Our God is with us now.
> --Pepper Choplin
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