Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! (Rev. 12:12)
God is a God of mercy. When we experience pain, hardship, and difficulties, God grieves and suffers alongside us. However, he also fights for us and is determined to rescue and restore us, which he has already done through the faithful death of Jesus.
Thomas Merton shared, “The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had chosen suffering in preference to the joys of union with God, the Lord turned suffering itself into a way by which man could come to the perfect knowledge of God.”
Through the suffering witness of the church, committed followers of Jesus every day rejoice and wait for transformation to come. Their hearts cry out in belief, “Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55), for they rejoice in this transformation of life.
How can a place of suffering be turned into a time of praise and rejoicing? How can you be a witness of God’s mercy and love through this time? May God bless you through this simple yet eternal act of love and praise as you thank God for his mercy and presence!
Let your heart rejoice and your tongue speak praise!
Jeremy Summers is an ordained Wesleyan pastor with a doctorate in spiritual formation. He is passionate about discipleship and church multiplication, and probably drinks too much coffee.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
