Tears? Of Joy?

Tears of Joy

David Letterman is clever man, quick with his words, a man who can time his well-rehearsed jokes perfectly. On those occasions that I watch his show, he will make me laugh, but what I feel is not joy. In fact, underlying the humor is a weariness with the world. It appears that the only way to escape the sense of futility is to cynically poke fun at it all. I get the feeling that many comedians are actually saying, "If I don't laugh, I'll cry." Then, too, there are some who appear to be covering a deep rage at life with jokes. Perhaps they're thinking, "If I don't laugh, I'll kill somebody!" Bill Maher comes to mind.

There is a joy that differs from a few laughs. When sadness is threatening to overwhelm me, when troubling circumstances appear to far outweigh successes, when disappointments march into my life one after another - I turn to prayerful worship, not hollow laugh tracks!  A week full of stress makes me anticipate Sunday's worship gathering like a starving man longing for food! In that focus on my Heavenly Abba, the Lord's Spirit comes over me. Frequently I find tears flowing down my face, but they are not coming from a broken heart. They are tears of joy. I am not alone in this. A young boy whose mother died several years ago started attending our church. His dad told me that during worship, the boy often cries, but like me, he says that his tears comes from a sense of peace and relief.  The songs, he says, make me feel 'really happy inside.'

We who the Presence of the Spirit are privileged to know something called the joy of the Lord. Nehemiah, the re-builder of Jerusalem, called the people of God together to read them the Law. As they heard it, they realized the depth of their sin and they began to weep. "Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:8-12, NIV)

There is a profound spiritual joy that gives us an ability to rise above our circumstances, to go through dark days and not to be crushed by them. That joy grows out of our assurance that there is more to life than what we can see at this moment. We rest in His rule, waiting for Him to make a way where there seems to be no way. We take our guilt to Him and we are forgiven and reconciled. We ask for faith to accept His grace and learn that even those things that we would never choose for ourselves are a means of knowing Him more deeply. In the Spirit's life, we find joy!

Are you sorrowful today? There's no sin in sorrow! Grief has many causes.

Are you wrestling with temptation to the point of exhaustion?

Are you frustrated with something that won't yield to your best efforts at finding a solution?

Has someone you loved rejected you?

Is life not at all what you thought it could or should be?

Are you angry with the Lord for allowing things to develop in your life that you did not expect?

The "joy of the Lord is your strength." Instead of making a joke of it all, or hiding your disappointment bravely, may I suggest that you find a place of worship? No, it need not necessarily be a church, though I hope you'll find your way there. Just find someplace alone with the Lord. Tell Him what's weighing you down, then thank Him for Who He is! Give it up. If tears flow, let them, for they are a language that the Man of Sorrows understands. Joy will find you as the Spirit fills you.

Make this word from the Word your confession so that the joy of the Lord will overtake your sorrow.

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:23-26, NIV)

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV) "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."  (2 Corinthians 1:10, NIV)