THIS BITTER CUP, THIS BOUNDLESS JOY

Wednesday 19th March 2025, 2218hrs…

Something struck me during my Bible reading this morning in 2 Corinthians:

6:10 ~ (after a rather long list of hardships) "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

7:4 ~ "I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds."

8:2 ~ "In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity."

This was pretty confusing at first. How could one rejoice, yet be full of sorrow? How could joy overflow in the midst of a very severe trial? How could one’s joy be boundless amid so many troubles?

Have I perhaps been viewing this the wrong way? I’ve been running from sorrow, trials, trouble, and hardship of any kind. I’ve always thought that these were the greatest enemies to the joy I desired to have. How could they not be? How is it that they seem to live together just fine in these few lines?

Now I see that in running from my troubles, I’ve also run from the joy they could have birthed. The results have been devastating to say the least. I keep ending up at the edge of this dark abyss each time I come to the end of my futile run. There the pangs of sadness threaten to tear me up and choke the hope of living out of me.

Sometimes the darkness swallows me up and I can do nothing but let it toss me about as it pleases. Other times, God shows me mercy. He pulls me from its grip and infuses me with a sudden, inexplicable joy. A joy I’ve never quite understood.

So I’m faced with a new reality - a truth that is both foreign and sweet to my ears. Though my life be plagued with sorrow, I can still rejoice ~ ALWAYS. Though I face several severe trials, I can still overflow with joy. Though my troubles be many, my joy can be greater still - for it knows no bounds.

I'm yet to fully understand how this works, but I’m comforted in knowing that I'm not alone. Many others have experienced life at its worst and still found a reason to joy in God. To rejoice in Him. Scripture explicitly says: In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡.

So it is possible! With You, Lord, it is possible! How wonderful! 

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Lord, please help me stop running from trouble. It feels like I’ve been running all my life (okay, maybe since campus 🙂) and I’ve never been as exhausted as I am right now. So please, Lord, help me stop running. I want to embrace the trials, the pain, the agony, the heartache and the sadness that’s bound to result.

More importantly, I want to experience this supernatural joy that transcends the pain and the sorrow. I want to rejoice in You Jesus. Despite the hardship. Despite the ache. Despite the number of unanswered prayers... Let me experience this joy Jesus. I want it all. 

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Now I know that it’s okay to have sorrow within. That makes me human. I will not try to run away from my feelings again. In them I get to live and experience life. Through them I get to understand a bit about my neighbor’s pain. Or a tiny glimpse of all the agony You bore for my sin.

Through them I see Your hand at work in me. How You mold me and transform me to look more and more like You. How the pain, the agony, the heartache and the sorrow are tools in Your skillful hands. Tools to take away the dross so that the silver is fit for the Silversmith.

I’ll stop running Lord. In fact, I'm right here. In Your surgery room. Use this pain for Your glory, and let Your joy overflow in me while You’re at it. 

So today, I officially say yes to this procedure, however painful it may be. From my mouth to Your ears, Lord: YOU CAN CUT!

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Next in this series: When Sorrow Sings