Have you ever picked up a pair of binoculars and purposely looked through them backwards? Instead of seeing things close up and in focus, even the closest thing can seem distant and totally distorted. Sometimes life and God can seem just like that. Psalm 30:11 says, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness [joy].” If you felt like tossing this article in the trash because of the verse you just read, just please give me a moment. This Bible verse sounds like the biggest contradiction of all time! How can you go from mourning into dancing? How can you go from heartbreak to joy? When you are in the midst of it, dancing and joy are the furthest things on your mind and your heart! Why? Because grief has no friends! I remember when I went through a gut-wrenching time when life seemed unbearable. I went to church and a guy came up to me and said, “You look like hell!” I said, “I feel like I’m going through it right now.” Then without hesitation or any feeling, he simply replied, “Remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength!” Did it turn my mourning into dancing? Well, almost! It took everything within me not to start dancing like Muhammad Ali and share with him the right fist of fellowship in his face! When people don’t know what to say, they sometimes say the stupidest things! I am not saying this verse isn’t true, but it may take some time to get there.

Jesus never said we would have a perfect, peaceful life when we follow Him. He said in John 16:33 that in this fallen world we would have sufferings, distress, troubles and sorrows. We often hear people say, “I’m embarrassed that I’m still grieving. I know the Bible says I shouldn’t.” Really? Where does it say that? It just isn’t true. Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It is ok not to be ok. It is ok to talk to the Lord honestly. There are times I have talked to the Lord in an honest, raw and sometimes loud conversation, while asking Him the hard questions in anger or sadness. One time after my venting, I apologized, “Lord, I’m sorry for talking to You like that. I’m just hurting.” The Lord said, “I can handle it!” Why do we feel we have to pretend everything is ok if it isn’t? And don’t isolate–it makes it worse! Romans 12:15 tells us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].” When you go through the hard times, don’t block the Lord out either. Go to Him, sit with Him, tell Him your fears and griefs, and eventually your joy will return. 

Jesus warned the disciples in John 16:20, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” He said this right in the middle of telling His disciples that He was about to be crucified and that one of their inner group was going to betray Him into the hands of His enemies. Chaos ensued with the anger and grief that erupted. John 13:23 describes, “The disciples looked around at one another, wondering who on earth he was talking about. One of the disciples… was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder.” The disciple John in his grief literally leaned upon the breast (chest or shoulder) of Jesus. This is so symbolic, that leaning on Jesus is the only place to be in the midst of grief. Nehemiah 8:10 NIV says, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Or another translation, CEV, says, “…he will make you happy and strong.”

The joy of the Lord is my strength. What if you reversed that and declared, “The strength of the Lord is my joy?” The Hebrew word for strength in that verse, maoz, means something very different than what we think of from the English word. It means a refuge, stronghold, fortress, place of protection. It’s a geographical place so to speak—a hiding place, a safe haven in the Lord. As I wrote this, I saw a picture of His loving arms enfolding us, holding us close to His heart. Then we take His arms and begin to dance with Him, realizing He never let us go. All along, the Lord has been there to be our safe haven, our hiding place, and what’s when our joy begins to return. Then you can turn the binoculars around the correct way and see up close the Lord who finds great joy in you and madly loves you!

-Emil Liko 11/6/23