Notice that Peter [in 1 Peter 1:6-7] does not say, āYou used to rejoice in Christ, but now you are in a time of pain and suffering. But donāt worry, you will rejoice again.ā Nor does he say, āItās good to see that during these trials and tribulations, you are not sad or filled with grief, but you are rejoicing in Jesus.ā Peter does not pit these things against each other. He does not say that we can either rejoice in Christ or wail and cry out in pain, but that we can do both. No, not only can we do both, we must do both if we are to grow through our suffering rather than be wrecked by it.
This is a difficult concept for modern Western people, since we think of our feelings as almost holy, sovereign things. We either feel happy or we donāt, and, we think, we canāt force our feelings. And that is right; we must not deny or try to create feelings. But we must remember that in the Bible, the āheartā is not identical to emotions. The heart is understood as the place of your deepest commitments, trusts, and hopes. From these commitments flow our emotions, thoughts, and actions. To ārejoiceā in God means to dwell on and remind ourselves of who God is, who we are, and what he has done for us. Sometimes our emotions respond and follow when we do this, and sometimes they do not. But therefore we must not define rejoicing as something that precludes feelings of grief, or doubt, weakness, and pain. Rejoicing in suffering happens within sorrow.
Here is how it works. The grief and sorrow drive you more into Godā¦ . look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesnāt come after the sorrow. It doesnāt come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy.
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