Turning Sorrow to Joy

Week 2 of our Contagious Joy study ...

The opposite of joy is sorrow. Sorrow can be grief, worry, or a broken spirit. Sorrow causes us to weep until our face turns red (Job 16:16), and it can be worn on our shadowed frame (Job 17:7). There's no mistaking sorrow.

But God's promise is that joy can be ours: "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." Psalm 126:5. We may begin in sorrow, but we will end in joy.

In Isaiah 52:9, God bids us to "Burst into songs of joy together ... for the Lord has comforted his people." There's the singing again. The evidence of joy can be found in our songs. Songs of worship to the Lord.

But more than that, our joy comes from the Lord Himself.

"I'll convert their weeping into laughter, lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy." - Jeremiah 31:13 MSG

We can put on joy on the outside, wear makeup, get a new haircut or even put on a smile, but the heart can still be grieving deeply. Real transformation must happen from the inside out. When God's joy fills our heart, it is so much more effective than the exterior polishes we put on.

"When our life is as flat and gray as ashes, God invites us to exchange these ashes for the beauty of joy." - Christa Kinde

And God bestows:

a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and
a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3)

But when do we discover that joy resides in our hearts? When we are saved or when we rediscover the joy that already belongs to us.

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:12

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Job 8:21

"They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Isaiah 35:10

It's not easy turning our sorrows into joy. Sometimes, it can seem impossible. That is when we need the Lord, because with Him, nothing is impossible. He is the source of our joy, if we allow Him to open our hearts and reside there -- filling us to overflowing -- with joy that's everlasting.


Yes Lord, I will trade my ashes for your beauty. My weeping for your laughter. My sorrow for your joy. And may I always remember that joy is given at the well of salvation.