How can you be sorrowful yet rejoicing? Surely you are one or the other? Yet the apostle Paul tells us that his experience is that he is continually sorrowful and yet always rejoicing (2 Cor 6:10). This is a wonderfully realistic way to live. He is neither annoyingly positive, nor depressingly negative. He says, life is hard, there’s times when it’s so hard that I’m tempted to give up, it’s not all right, it does hurt, and yet, I’m rejoicing because I know the Lord is in control and He is good. Doesn’t this describe the Christian life well? We’ve found this verse describes our struggles with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
There’s a cloud hanging over us every single day, as William grows up, he is getting weaker rather than stronger. We are constantly preparing for and adjusting to decline. I’m sure you have similar clouds, anxieties and pains, mental or physical health struggles, relationship difficulties. You wonder why God doesn’t just take it away. You are sorrowful from the pain you face. Maybe things are a lot more positive for you, but dear friend, know that there will be sufferings in this life. The apostle Paul couldn’t avoid them, being a Christian doesn’t mean we get to dodge suffering, if anything it can increase our suffering. But here’s where being a Christian makes all the difference, we can be sorrowful…yet always rejoicing. How? Surely these are contradictory!
How can we be sorrowful and rejoicing at the same time? Do we suffer from split personality disorder? No. We are sorrowful because we live in a fallen world and we are affected by the brokenness. We live in a world that is hostile to God, and we suffer from the hostility. Jesus said to his disciples “in this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And that is how we can rejoice even when we are facing troubles. We can know that, no matter how intense, how painful, for those who belong to Jesus, they won’t last forever. There is a day coming when He will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4), a day when there will be no more suffering for the Christian, only endless joy. When you know you have a holiday coming up, it changes your perspective, gives you a spring in your step, gives you hope. When you know eternity with Christ is just round the corner, you can rejoice!
But not only can we rejoice that Jesus has overcome, that He has conquered sin, suffering and death. We can rejoice because he will not give us a single trial that is too much for us to bear, nor that is not ultimately for our good. At times it may feel too much to bear as Paul himself said at the start of the letter, “we despaired of life itself” but as he said, that was to make him rely on God rather than himself (2 cor 1:8-9). And as he will tell us later in 12:9 God’s grace is always sufficient.
My Christian brother or sister, what makes you sorrowful? You don’t need to deny it or hide it, we don’t need to pretend everything is ok, it’s not, we live in a broken world and we are affected deeply by the pain. But, even among the pain, we can rejoice, because we know it will not last forever, there is a resurrection around the corner, and even while we wait, your loving heavenly Father is caring for you, and hard though it may be to believe, He is using this trial for your good, to wean you from things that are not for your good, to make you more like His beloved Son, to make His glory shine more brightly within you. If you are ever tempted to doubt this, just look back up to chapter 5:21 to see what Jesus faced for you.
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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