Grief and Rejoicing

For many years, I have rattled off "Jesus wept" as the shortest verse in the bible (John 11:35), mostly as an irrelevant bible factoid to wow people with my biblical knowledge.  Me: "Hey, did you know that 'Jesus wept' is the shortest verse in the bible?"  Them: "Wow."  Something like that.

I have often thought of that verse with comfort.  I found it especially comforting since I entered a season of grief two years ago when my dad passed away, a season that I believe will continually change and get easier to bear though it never really ends (I think we can never stop missing one we love so dearly).  It comforts me that even Jesus, who understood God's plan better than anyone, still wept at the death of a friend.  It tells me that my grief is right and good, even in light of God's receptive promise of eternity.

A short while ago, in reading the book of 1 Thessalonians, I came across another "shortest verse in the bible: "Rejoice always" (5:16).  This one at first glance caught my attention because I had believed that "Jesus wept" stood alone as the shortest verse in the bible.  Clearly I was wrong.  But what kept my attention beyond that first realization was the contrast between both two-word verses: Jesus wept, Rejoice always.  They seem to contradict one another.

Like so many things in the bible, these two verses could give fodder to those who seek to discredit the bible based on seeming contradiction.  Or for someone like me, ready to believe all the bible teaches, they can at least confuse.  How can we rejoice always when clearly grief is so real and so painful that even the Son of God grieved?  This is a concept I have been struggling through the past two years and I believe I am beginning to understand.  Grief and Rejoicing.

The first piece of it is that grief is right and good.  It is not a lack of faith in God's promise.  It is a response of love for the one we have lost.  It is even a command: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).  Again, weeping and rejoicing smashed together in God's word.

The struggle for me at this point in my life has more been on the rejoicing end of the spectrum.  There are so many things that are easy to rejoice in: the beauty in nature, the laughter of children, the love of a good man, conversation with like-minded friends, delicious food.  But what about those days that are swamped with hard things, with wave after wave of brokenness and bad news?  There are those days too and what do I do with the other shortest verse in the bible: "Rejoice always"?

I believe God gave me a glimpse of this right after my dad's death when I read Joshua chapter 1.  God gives a command to Joshua to be strong and courageous as he enters the battles of the Promised Land.  I have heard verse nine quoted many times: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  People find comfort in God's promise to be with His people.  But what struck me the most was what God told Joshua in verse three: "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses." "I have given to you."  Joshua hasn't even entered the land yet, but God claims to have already given it to Him, and He asks Joshua to proceed as if the gift has already been received.

This is how God works.  He speaks a promise and asks us to rejoice as if we've already received it because, Believers, we have.  Though grief and brokenness surrounds us, our God has promised victory and healing and joy that will cover it all.  He commands us in faith to rejoice always, even in suffering because by faith His word is as good as true although we have not yet received it.  We can rejoice in our grief because we have faith in His promise.

This Sunday, the message challenged us in the midst of a broken world to "live into the promise," and that is exactly what "Rejoice always" means in light of "Jesus wept."  When I am overwhelmed with troubles and grief, I can lift my eyes above it to the promise of everything restored, everything made right, and rejoice in the God who loves us so much that He can turn our weeping into rejoicing.