Day 7: Joy Gets the Last Laugh

I’ve seen joy at many funerals.

Actually, at most funerals. Even in pain and sorrow, it is common to hear friends and family express joy. Often, when they get up to speak at the funeral, they laugh-cry-laugh their way through their words. When everyone meets up for the reception after the funeral, there are both tears and laughter as people remember the good times they had with the deceased.

David wrote in Psalm 30:5, “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Paul says something similar in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Both David and Paul were able to look past the pain of the moment and see that something better was ahead.

Obviously, joy is not the first emotion you feel when death strikes. In the early aftermath of a loss, the pain is real, the hurt plunges deep, and the sorrow can feel all-consuming. Yes, weeping stays for the night — and often it’s a long, dark night indeed.

But all nights come to an end. Even the longest, darkest, saddest nights end. In due time the sun comes up, the light chases the darkness away, and hope rises again. When you are weeping in the night, it’s important to remember that morning is coming, and joy is on its way.

Joy doesn’t remove your suffering or restore your loss, of course. On the outside nothing changes. But on the inside, everything changes. When your mourning begins to be transformed by the joy of the Lord, strength returns, and hope arises. You gain a clearer, more positive perspective of the loss you suffered and the future that awaits.

Of course, you can’t force joy to appear any more than you can force the sun to rise. Timing matters. Seasons come and go. Right now, you might be weeping, and that’s okay — but take heart, you won’t weep forever. Today you could be mourning, but you’ll be dancing soon enough. Joy always gets the last laugh.

You don’t need to force joy, but you should expect it. And when it comes, welcome it. Rest in it. Heal in it. Find strength in it.

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Was this Plan helpful? We adapted this Plan from The Art of Overcoming by Tim Timberlake. Read the whole book! Get your copy today! Every purchase provides a Bible to someone in need.