when your worst day is someone else's best...
Some days are really hard. Really, really, really hard. The kind of hard that you never imagined and you certainly don't want to re-live. There are days that are more difficult than we can explain. Days that cause pain in a way we could never describe. Days when darkness clouds our vision and we're certain it couldn't possibly get worse. And as we walk through our day, heavy hearted and wondering how we're suppose to move on, we forget that although today is by far our worst, it is someone else's best.
I'll never forget that day it happened to me. The day that drug out into the longest season I've ever lived through, and I wondered how people could be so happy when I was so sad. I wanted them to feel my sorrow. I wanted their hearts to hurt just like mine. I wanted them to somehow, someway grasp the depth of my despair because misery loves company. There was a shared sadness, but it didn't linger. A understanding, but it only went so deep. And I realized that I could either pull everyone down into the depths of darkness with me, that I could sulk and wail and toss in agony, or I could understand that just because I was sad didn't mean there was no reason to rejoice. Just because my heart was broken didn't mean I couldn't still give thanks. And I discovered that there was always something to celebrate, even if it wasn't for me. It might not be my victory, it might not by my joy, but I could still be happy for someone else regardless of whether there was anything good going for me.
When you've struggled with infertility, it's hard to rejoice in your best friend's pregnancy. When your marriage has failed, it's hard to rejoice in your sister's engagement. When your job isn't going as you imagined, it's hard to rejoice in your co-worker's promotion. When all is falling apart in your world, it's hard to rejoice in what all is coming together in another's. And yet that's the beauty of the body. When one part hurts, the whole body hurts. When one part rejoices, so does the rest. Because it's not just about you, about what God is doing in your life, it's about what God is doing in the whole body of Christ. The prayers He is answering, the miracles He is working, they may be for someone else, but what a joy to see God move. What a beautiful thing to be a witness to His faithfulness, knowing that His love for you runs as deep as it does for them and that His plans for you are as perfect as His plans for them.
Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." It doesn't say that we rejoice in the good days. It simply says we rejoice in the day, today, whatever it may look like. Because it's another day of life. Another day of God's mercies. Another day closer to His return. And so we rejoice. If it's not in our own circumstances, we rejoice for another's. Truly sharing in their joy has a strange way of taking our eyes off of our own sorrow and reminding us that God's goodness is far reaching and that His love is never failing. We remember that God is always moving, working things out for the good of those who love Him. And we give thanks that He has given us another day to see it. Another day to lean on Him and to find truth in His promises.
Today may not be your day, tomorrow might not, either. But we can rejoice, we can be glad because we serve a God who does not abandon us or forget about us. What is sown in tears will produce a harvest of joy. Your day of celebration will come.
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4
I'll never forget that day it happened to me. The day that drug out into the longest season I've ever lived through, and I wondered how people could be so happy when I was so sad. I wanted them to feel my sorrow. I wanted their hearts to hurt just like mine. I wanted them to somehow, someway grasp the depth of my despair because misery loves company. There was a shared sadness, but it didn't linger. A understanding, but it only went so deep. And I realized that I could either pull everyone down into the depths of darkness with me, that I could sulk and wail and toss in agony, or I could understand that just because I was sad didn't mean there was no reason to rejoice. Just because my heart was broken didn't mean I couldn't still give thanks. And I discovered that there was always something to celebrate, even if it wasn't for me. It might not be my victory, it might not by my joy, but I could still be happy for someone else regardless of whether there was anything good going for me.
When you've struggled with infertility, it's hard to rejoice in your best friend's pregnancy. When your marriage has failed, it's hard to rejoice in your sister's engagement. When your job isn't going as you imagined, it's hard to rejoice in your co-worker's promotion. When all is falling apart in your world, it's hard to rejoice in what all is coming together in another's. And yet that's the beauty of the body. When one part hurts, the whole body hurts. When one part rejoices, so does the rest. Because it's not just about you, about what God is doing in your life, it's about what God is doing in the whole body of Christ. The prayers He is answering, the miracles He is working, they may be for someone else, but what a joy to see God move. What a beautiful thing to be a witness to His faithfulness, knowing that His love for you runs as deep as it does for them and that His plans for you are as perfect as His plans for them.
Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." It doesn't say that we rejoice in the good days. It simply says we rejoice in the day, today, whatever it may look like. Because it's another day of life. Another day of God's mercies. Another day closer to His return. And so we rejoice. If it's not in our own circumstances, we rejoice for another's. Truly sharing in their joy has a strange way of taking our eyes off of our own sorrow and reminding us that God's goodness is far reaching and that His love is never failing. We remember that God is always moving, working things out for the good of those who love Him. And we give thanks that He has given us another day to see it. Another day to lean on Him and to find truth in His promises.
Today may not be your day, tomorrow might not, either. But we can rejoice, we can be glad because we serve a God who does not abandon us or forget about us. What is sown in tears will produce a harvest of joy. Your day of celebration will come.
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4
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