Comfort and Joy
The first half of 2022 has been filled with a lot of tragedy. So much tragedy that we can feel more intimately acquainted with sorrow than with joy.
Questions… and quests for Joy
Is it even possible to feel joy when the world is in such a mess? How do we move forward? How do we find any joy when surrounded by unbelievable tragedy?
I’ve been asking myself those questions a lot lately in response to multiple tragedies: those we have all experienced as a nation—in Buffalo, Uvalde, Philly, and Tulsa to name a few, and also in the world—Ukraine. Closer to home, I’ve also felt the walls of tragedy closing in more quickly. Two teenagers, recent high school graduates and beautiful examples of faith and hope for the future, died in a single-car accident. Turns out I was only two degrees removed from both of them in this metro area of more than half a million souls. In addition, several women from my Bible study are in the midst of tragic heartbreak … from COVID death to infidelity to brain cancer to addicted adult children.
In response to these messages of heartbreak, I have found myself often offering prayers, on posts and in person, that God would bring some measure of comfort, and a spark of joy in sweet memories.
Comfort and joy. This is what I’m asking God for as well in these difficult days. We must all hold on to joy when we feel helpless and alone, lest we slide into deep despair and hopelessness. Hold on to the knowledge that Joy abides, even if the current circumstances are not joyful.
An Out-of Season Message
The other day I was surfing channels and streaming services for a late-night diversion when I heard a familiar musical refrain: “tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy . . . .” What? A Christmas carol? Yes, it’s that midyear time of Christmas movies. A reminder in the fresh heat of a brand new summer (downright scorching here in Florida), that if we can but hold on through the next few months we will once again feel the exhilarating coolness that comes (uh, not in Florida) from snowy winter wonderlands and magical happy endings ---at least as seen in all such movies.
“Tidings of comfort and joy” is about the only phrase of that song most of us can recall when we’re caroling with friends and family. It made me stop and ponder for a minute. Just what are tidings, really? I was pretty sure I knew, but being my editor-y self, I looked up the official definition. Tidings = news. Simple. The antiquated term calls up pictures of newsboys in the streets or town criers shouting out the news of the day. But we still can bring someone tidings today: sad tidings, glad tidings, tidings of comfort and joy.
What had God been putting on my heart to pray for people lately? Comfort and joy. I didn’t even realize I was bringing tidings!
At Christmas we seem to more easily allow ourselves to experience joy. Think about the words we sing as we celebrate the Savior’s birth and how many of them talk about joy. “Joy to the world”—everyone is invited to experience the joy Jesus brings. “Unspeakable joy”—true joy transcends explanation. “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant”—the coming of Jesus to our world is filled with joy and victory.
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” reminds us how the Christmas message of Jesus’ birth brought news of comfort because God had not forgotten his people, and joy because God was bringing forth a new day, a new way, a new light into the world. He offered us the joy of remembering that He was (and is) still with us, and that same God will be with us now and every day—no matter what situations surround us on every side.
But if we are in those in-between months—the ones when we’re not singing about joy and hearing Christmas bells every day for weeks—times that seem overly full of hurt, pain, tragic circumstances—what do we do to recapture joy?
I believe the answer is in another set of Christmas lyrics: “Remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day.” Remember. Memory is powerful. Memory is our connection to joy.
The Joy of Remembering
When sorrow surrounds you, remember Jesus came to give us forever life.
When tragedy strikes and you feel helpless, remember God grieves with us and catches our tears in a bottle. He has not forgotten us.
When you lose someone, even though you grieve, remember the beauty of the love you shared, the laughter, the fun, even the comfort of knowing that person was with you in the hard times. Memories can restore deep, inner joy.
True joy is not the absence of grief and sorrow but a grateful realization that God is with us in the middle of tragedy and pain, as He has been in the past and will be each tomorrow.
I guess that’s why I choose to pray for comfort and joy for others and myself in the painful and unfathomable hardships of life. What does your spirit need in those moments? What do you pray for? How can you call yourself and others back to God’s joy?
New Day, New Life, New Light
Today, with our hearts broken amid swirling tragedies, we need the reminder again of the joy God promises of a new day, a new way, a new light.
We are promised a new day: In fact, Psalm 30:5 tells us joy comes in the morning. Lamentations 3:23 assures us God’s mercies are new every morning. Perhaps
that’s why Jesus so often met His Father early in the morning, to refill his own cup with joy as he faced the challenges that eventually led to the cross.
We are promised a new way. Jesus was our new and living way, Hebrews 10:20 says, that brought us back into relationship with God. He Himself told us He was the way, and His way leads us down the path God designed and brings joy.
We are promised a new light: Jesus is the light of the world. When we follow Him, we take on his light to shine into the dark places of our world.
Instead of feeling helpless, we who are light-bearers can offer those in our circles of life good tidings of comfort and joy. We can find joy through the tears of tragedy, especially as we remember: memories of a good God and His guidance and blessings before, of the echoes of laughter in the past, of people—both gone and still with us—who gave us reason to be grateful and have fun and enjoy being together.
When you respond today or tomorrow to the next tragedy or heartbroken person in your life, remind them—and yourself—that comfort and joy are still to be found alongside our tears. Be a bearer of glad tidings, of light in a dark place.
So take some time to remember the good things and embrace the joy those memories bring. Then maybe take the time to watch a Christmas movie in the middle of summer!
What memories sustain you in times of sorrow?
What are ways that you can be a light in the darkness? To bring glad tidings to someone who is hurting?