08/08/2025
When do we rejoice and when do we mourn? Is there really a spiritual separation or difference? Are we meant to give God the glory for the good times and ignore or blame Him for the bad or painful ones?
One morning I received an email from a very dear friend who had been praying that the pain I was having in my right mid-back wasn't the return of cancer. Then, after reading that I only had a small disc herniation she wrote me an email that began with these words "Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy!!!!!!!" and she followed this immediately with an expression of thanks... "Yes, Praise God!!!!!" When good news like this comes our way, we are to thank God, but what about those times when the news isn't so good? Do we thank Him in the midst of our travail?
My mind goes back to October of 2015 when I was first diagnosed with cancer and a tumor was removed from my body. That news was not good for me as a human being, but I knew that God had a plan for me and that no matter what the outcome might be in this body and in this world, His will for me would produce remarkable treasure in heaven. I think of a certain passage of scripture in times such as this and here it is...
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5 ESV
Don't get me wrong... I am not a masochist who loves pain and suffering, but when it comes, I know that there is purpose in it... I also know from whence my help comes, and I trust in God as I praise Him and rejoice in His will for me... then, I Grit my teeth and suffer in my body.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.”
Psalms 121:1-3 ESV
After being healed of my cancer, I was counseling a young man who had the same form of cancer I had... testicular cancer. I hoped I would be able to comfort him in some way, but in the process of my counseling him, he blessed me without even realizing it. He was young and engaged to be married but was now facing a form of cancer that could leave him unable to father children. What happened next blessed me beyond my wildest expectations... He and His fiancé moved up their wedding ceremony and were immediately married. That is an amazing act of love, but that was not what blessed me... my blessing came from the reason for their rushed wedding. You see, he was going to deposit sperm at a fertility center just in case the worst scenario became real, and they viewed that donation as part of the covenant of marriage that he was making with his wife... they had to be married quickly so that the deposit would become the consummation of their union and evidence of His promise to her. I would never have been able to counsel this family and would never have known the details of their marriage if I hadn't first suffered through cancer myself... and you wouldn't have known about their story either. You see, even in our suffering God leads us to His blessings. This young couple gave me one that was powerful, and I can only imagine the blessings that would lay ahead for them.
I wrote a devotional a couple of mornings ago that was titled "I’ll Have What He is Having!" and in this offering I wrote about aligning ourselves and our prayers with the will of God. I also spoke of the fact that all things come from His hands. If that realization is coupled with living within His will for us, then there will be no hardship so severe that it can defeat our faith, and if we are in His will then there is no suffering that is in vain or that we won't be blessed by.
As for my dear friend who served as such a prayer warrior as I waited through the week to hear the news about my cancer's possible return? Well, she understood that message completely; she "got it", and sent me one last email which read...
"Very cool. To want what He is having! And I’m very glad He is having you made well through the skilled hands of a physician whom He has so gifted. Yes, Father, may I please delight in what delights You and want the most whatever pleases You to bring about."
So, regardless of what is happening in our lives, whether we are rejoicing, or mourning, our focus should remain fixed on God's perfect will for our lives and in that perfection... there is no difference between our suffering, rejoicing, or mourning. God's goodness is in us, and He is with us always. His purpose will guide us through every trial we face and lead us to rejoice in it by claiming the glory and victory we find in our suffering… for Him.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the peace and calm I find in you when it appears that my world is falling apart. At the height of my dismay you are with me, and I rejoice in your presence. You lead me beside the still waters, but even when the storm descends upon me you are with me, and you restore my soul. I praise your name Holy Father, and I trust in your goodness in the midst of all, even the bad things. No suffering can take my hand from yours, for you are my rock and strong tower; you go before me in the most uncertain of circumstances. I call on the name of Jesus and He answers, I am filled with fear and the Holy Spirit leads my soul to speak with you, and then I feel you there... firmly grasping my hand and calling me child, and friend. You deliver me from the midst of my enemies; you stand before me in times of trouble, and you shield me from the influence of evil and sin. Father, I lift you up and revel in your blessings for you are my God and Companion in the good and the bad moments of life. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who was, and is, and is to be with me in your love, goodness, and joy. Holy are you who are merciful in relieving my suffering, and full of grace when it occasionally gets the best of me. I praise your name in all things Abba and strive always, even in my tears and groaning, to give you the glory for every outcome. This is my prayer and the thanks that I offer you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.
Amen
“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 30:11-12 ESV
Rich Forbes