Joy Comes in the Darkness Too

Three days after the death of Mrs. Cummings, my grandfather passed away. Although we had been expecting it and praying that his suffering would end soon, the news struck me like a load of bricks. True, I had gone to say goodbye a few days before. Sure, I knew that it was coming. But when a loved one dies . . . For a long time, I hurt in silence, keeping my grief hidden away, locked from the sight of those around me. It was not the despairing kind of grief or the kind that one has when there is no hope of seeing the departed one again. No, it was just the empty, "I miss him" kind of grief. Had it been the other kind, I don't know how I would have faced it. Looking back, I stand in awe of how God worked things in the few months before Poppop died.


Pastor Brent preached recently about the storms of life. We don't know how long a storm may last, how bitter and difficult a trial may be, but we must have faith that God will not only see us through, but also work it for our good. How easy it is to forget this!

Luke 8:23-25
But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm
of wind on the lake; and they were filled [with water], and were in jeopardy.
And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he
arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and
there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being
afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he
commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

While we may wonder how the disciples, Jesus' disciples, those who were with him constantly, could lack the faith and trust that He would see them through, we must also recognize that we, like the disciples, often lack in faith--we, who have seen so often the goodness of God, who have been blessed by Him so many times, who have always found Him to be faithful. In truth, we are no better than the disciples, and we, as they, have no excuse for failing to remember the mercies of God. As a loving father protects his children and does all things for their good and well-being, so God, our heavenly Father, watches over His own. It's always neat to see the sun break forth in all her glory from the clouds after a storm, to see the beauty of the sky, to smell the fragrance of the earth after the rain. So also, after we have been tossed about by the pounding of the waves, drenched by the pouring wrath of the rain, deafened by the booming of the thunder, blinded by the lightning flashing forth from the sky, we can often see the magnificence of God shining forth once the storm has calmed, how His hand was guiding all along . . . If only we would remember that more DURING the storm, rather than looking back and seeing it once morning has broken. Oh that God would grant us grace to trust Him more fully, to remember Him always, and to seek His face at all times.

I found joy in the morning. Oh that I had had the faith to find it in the darkness as well! Had I trusted God more fully, rested more in His sovereignty, and found peace in His promises, what depths of joy might have been mine while being battered by the waves? God HAS promised to be faithful. What could bring more joy than the knowledge of that? Knowing that He is working all things to our good, that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that we are FIRMLY held in His hands, we can find peace through the troubled times. I had peace, but I lacked joy. May He grant me more faith and more trust during the next storm that I might not have to wait till morning for the blessing of the joy of the Lord.