Grief —> Joy

“In this world you will have trouble”…do you see what it says there in John 16 verse 33? It doesn’t say you might have trouble. It doesn’t say some people will have trouble. It doesn’t say those who don’t love God will have trouble. It doesn’t say those who have done wrong will have trouble…it says YOU will have trouble. EVERYONE. Everyone will have trouble in this world.

At first it doesn’t seem very exciting or comforting, but keep reading. Jesus then says to “take heart! I have overcome the world” WHAT! HOW AWESOME. Jesus has overcome the world and that is so true. I know right now it seems like the Coronavirus has taken over the world, but Jesus literally overcame the world.

If you look back at the middle of chapter 16, the headline in my Bible says “The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy”, oh boy how does that work? I immediately thought of my Instagram post when I shared about my divorce. I shared in my post about how I should have been celebrating my 4 months of marriage, but instead, I was grieving my divorce that day in October.

Well now, 6 months later, I am completely filled to the top and overflowing with joy. That sounds INSANE and I am very aware. I am divorced and I am overflowing with joy…whaaaat? Well, it isn’t like I am thrilled that my husband left. Geeze I have said it so many times but I loved him so so so much. I didn’t want a divorce at all!! But now, looking back to when I was going through the divorce and just how much I have changed, I am truly overflowing with so much joy and friends, it is REAL.

Looking back in John 16:20, Jesus tells the Disciples that they will grieve, but their grief will turn to joy. Then it compares the time of a woman giving birth and it is painful but then the baby is born and the woman forgets all of the anguish because of the joy the child brings to her. I cannot at all relate to this example, but I can relate to being in pain. I looked up “anguish” and some synonyms for that were: pain, torture, torment, suffering, distress, misery, heartbreak and unhappiness. Yikes that is a LOT of negativity in that one sentence. I would absolutely say I felt all of those through my divorce. Phew, especially heartbreak!

Then I think back about the Bible verse in Romans 8:18 that basically says that the pain and current suffering you are feeling is not even CLOSE to the glory and joy that is coming and will be revealed in us. That is how I see the verse about the woman and the child. Painful, but can't even compare to holding her sweet little baby after all the pain is done, right? For me, divorce was painful. Everything that I said up there is how I felt. Stressed. Heartbroken. Misery. Unhappiness. I hated getting a divorce and I will never ever say it was fun...but it was clearly God’s plan. I trust that God is present in my life and that is what needed to happen. Just like verse 33 says, we will have trouble and I would for sureeee consider going through divorce “trouble”. Ugh.

Now, looking back and looking at myself, I REALLY see why it happened & the benefits/outcome. I was not close with God. I was not joyful. I was not the best person I could be. I still am nowhere close to perfect, but I am listening to God. I am doing my best at reading my Bible daily. I thrive by being in constant prayer and communication with God. I WANT TO BE. How crazy is that? It is fun for me to talk to God so much.

All of this to say, go read John 16 and start in verse 16. It isn’t long, but it is a great read. Listen to what God is telling you there. Maybe you are like me and WANT so badly to be close with God but don’t know where to start? God had to break my heart through a divorce to bring me back to Him but I am so glad He did because I am thriving now and full of joy. Start now, friends. Pick up the Bible and start reading. Start a plan on the Bible app! Talk to God. Thank Him for things in your life. Gratitude is a great thing! Ask Him for help in areas you are struggling. I promise you, He is so ready to grow your relationship together and your life will truly change for the best. I just know it!

How can I pray for you? I seriously never took my relationship with God seriously until I had nobody around me through my divorce. It sucks that this is how it happened. I could have chosen to let this completely break me and ruin my life, but I chose to let God take over and I’m so thankful for Him working on my heart!!

Let me pray for you! Let me encourage you in your walk with Christ because it is the best thing that has ever happened to me and given me pure joy! Drop a prayer request in the box on the homepage💞

xoxo,

Morgan Leigh

I got to go skiing this week and being with friends and family doing what I love, I am just filled with joy!