The Whole Story

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. Psalm 42:11

Jesus says, “Your sorrow will be turned into joy.” John 16:20 (NKJV)

REFLECTION:

There is something beautiful about starting each day with a snippet of Scripture. Often, these ancient words of promise, hope, and challenge start us off on the right foot.

However, there is a danger of just using "snippets" of Scripture, too. The short phrases are ripped from their contexts and placed on this page, devoid of the stories surrounding them that give them meaning. In some ways, it is akin to picking up a novel, opening to a random page, pulling out a sentence, and then trying to discern what that sentence means outside of the larger story around it.

So, let's just say this: God is interested in the WHOLE STORY.

At first glance, Jesus' words above from John 16 seem like a trite religious platitude. They don't seem to go deep enough, especially for those of us reading this today with very real sorrows in the back of our minds. Simply saying those sorrows will be turned into joy feels like a religious band-aid on a gaping wound.

But I'll say it again: God is interested in the WHOLE STORY.

In the narrative, these words from Jesus are his consolation for the disciples who are despairing that they won't seem him again. He even uses the analogy of childbirth; that the temporary pain gives way to a deep and abiding joy. And as any mother will tell you, that's not a simplistic joy. The joy of having children is a complex joy, filled with sacrifice, love, difficulties and triumphs. The final result for many is the robust joy of the parent-child relationship.

The joy from God is the same kind of robust joy. It has room to hold our current sorrows, not erase them. So if you are reading these words today as you face very real and seemingly overpowering sorrows, simply trust there is room for those, too. The fierce love that God has for you can hold YOUR WHOLE STORY; joys and sorrows; and weave them all into a fabric that is vibrant, loving, and joy-filled.

So, today may we trust that our whole story has a place in the heart of God; and may we trust the promise that however unlikely it seems to us now, that whole story will have a deep, abiding joy. May you, the one reading this, pause today to know that you do not walk this road alone.

PRAYER:
O God of all comfort and grace, be especially near to those who are suffering from illness and pain. May their souls and bodies be flooded with the light that penetrates our deepest darkness. Send your healing presence this day. Amen.*

*Prayer taken from the Moravian Daily Texts

...and that phrase is true beyond the issue of Biblical interpretation.