Joy and Grief | March 30, 2020

  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Peter 1:6 (NIV) 

Rejoicing Greatly 

In the first 5 verses of 1st Peter, we have enough good news to fuel an entire lifetime with joy. That’s why Peter says “in all this” you greatly rejoice. In all what? Everything he just said in vs. 1-5. In verses 1-2, Peter describes God’s loving choice to make us his very own. In v. 3 he describes a true and living hope we all hold because of the resurrection of Jesus. In verses 4-5 he tells us about an inheritance we have been given that will never cease to amaze us and that can never be taken away. 

What is the outcome of “all this” on our emotional state? Great rejoicing (vs 6)! Not a polite thank you, not a quiet golf clap, not a fabricated smile; instead, it’s the kind of joy that makes you want to jump, shout, and tell every person you know.

Suffering Grief 

Peter isn’t so naive to think that this is the only emotion we feel as God’s people. Many people would read incredible passages like 1 Peter 1-5 and think the only possible emotional state for one of God’s  children is perpetual, inexpressible joy. But neither the Bible nor our personal experience shows this to be true. 

Peter says for a little while we may have had to suffer grief. The Greek word used here means to experience heavy sorrow. It is the same word used to describe Peter and the other disciples when Jesus told them that he would soon be killed. It’s a word of pain, distress, and heavy sorrow. Yes, when we look at the hope of the gospel there are times of great joy. But when we look at the present circumstances, there are also times of immense grief. 

Author David Kessler, who happens to be considered the world’s leading expert on grief describes our present experience like this,

We’re feeling a number of different griefs. We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.

Kessler rightly points out that we are not used to this kind of grief, but as believers, perhaps we should become used to it. After all, Peter shows that it is going to be a normal part of our lives as “elect exiles.” 

Managing Grief 

The simple take away for us from vs. 6 is that Christians live on an emotional spectrum, and acknowledging that helps us better manage our experiences. There are times of rejoicing when we think about the glorious gospel. There are times of heavy sadness when we think about the painful experiences of our life. Jesus followers will swing back and forth between these experiences, and if you are on the side of grief right now it doesn’t mean something is wrong! It means you are living somewhere in between the hope of the gospel and the present pain of this world.

Mr. Rogers famously said in regard to our painful emotions, “Anything mentionable is manageable.” If we can name what we are feeling, we can deal with what we are feeling. Peter is not afraid to acknowledge that we will experience grief as believers. Naming our grief and then taking it to the presence of God will give us even greater joy when we lay the grief of vs. 6 up against the precious truths of the gospel in vs. 1-5. 

Lord, you have given us cause for great rejoicing and at times you allow us to experience heavy grief. We want to acknowledge the grief we are feeling right now and bring it before you. Some are grieving the absence of normalcy and relationships, others the loss of income and fear of more grief to come, while some may be suffering physically or are pained by the loss of life recorded on the news. May these heavy griefs drive us to true hope. May the  truths of vs. 1-5 become all the more precious as we hold on to them in the midst of our grief. And as we hold on to these gospel truths, may you foster in us inexpressible joy.