What do you do in the middle of a stormy season? You know the season I’m talking about—when your faith is put in the fire, and you either stand your ground or burn to ashes. Even if you aren’t in that season now, I bet you can think back to a time when you were there. Wondering if you’d ever be able to find real rest again, to feel joy again, but something I’ve learned after spending time in a storm is that sometimes, that’s where the joy begins.
There is a saying that seems to hold true when things are going wrong: if it’s not one thing, it’s another. When you are already at a low point, life seems to just keep knocking you lower until it seems there’s no way to get back up. I have been through a few stormy seasons in my life, and I have approached them differently as I’ve gotten older. As a teenager and in my early 20s, they were all-consuming, and it felt like there was no way out and absolutely no room for joy.
I used to wholeheartedly believe that you could not be in a season of heartache and find joy. In my 30s though, I know with all my heart that even in the storms I can find joy. You see, it’s not one or the other, you can be at your lowest point and you can have moments of joy that pass all understanding. That idea set me free and allowed me to look upon the stormy seasons as more than just despair. They are a season where joy can sprout. Joy can still be found in the darkness, and it can take root.
We don’t always get to know why bad things happen to us in our lives. It’s part of being human—one of the hardest parts. We don’t have a choice sometimes, but to go through it. The choice we do have though, is how we face it while we walk through the storm. Are you going to keep your head low and hope you don’t get pelted by incoming hail, or are you going to look up and face it head-on knowing you might learn something if you pay attention?
There are some things that will happen in your life that feel impossible to face. There are things that will make you cry out and beg for them to stop—and sometimes they will, but sometimes they won’t (some of you know that all too well). What you might also know, though, is that even in the pain here on Earth, there is still hope and there is still joy.
It’s found in a flower growing on the sidewalk. It’s found in a rainbow after a thunderstorm. It’s found in the giggles of a child who hasn’t yet been faced with the hardships of life. It’s found in friendship and fellowship. It’s found in a warm meal or your favorite beverage. It’s found in words that seem to have been written just for you and music that sings to your soul. It’s found in the Lord who brings a joy that passes all understanding, a joy that shouldn’t be possible from the darkest of nights.
So, if you find yourself in a stormy season right now hold onto this truth, you can be both full of sorrow and joy at the same time. Joy can take root when you are crying out in the valley. It can grow when you don’t have much left in you to feed it. Look for joy, even when things are dark, and you might just find a way out.
by Liz Newman 
by Sarah Lango 
by Melinda Tietsort 
