Personal Growth through Joy

In bible study this question was posed to us:

In your own life, have you experienced more personal growth in times of joy or in times of sorrow? 

We are studying Ecclesiastes which of course follows a more sorrowful line of thinking and I was not surprised to hear the women of my groups responding each time that dealing with/walking through times of sorrow/trial had been their greatest times of personal growth. It seemed to work that way for Solomon as well or he would not have said "better is a house of mourning that a house of feasting". Soberness, sorrow, and grief all allow us to keep our priorities straight. We let go of many of the earthly things that encumber us and grab hold of our true hope as Christians. It helps us to press on, having an understanding that injustice has an expiration date. God is not unknowing of ANY circumstance. These things are hard for us to acknowledge in a world with so many sorrows.
   I sat there looking at my answer. joy. I really thought about my answer a long time before putting the pen to paper but in the end I still wrote it. joy. Having been raised in a Christian household I was familiar in my childlike mind with many deeper religious concepts. I will never forget the day I was 9 and thought I heard trumpets outside. I raced out with my arms open to the sky ready for Jesus to take me up to him in the clouds. Man that day had the perfect large,  majestically puffy white clouds in the sky. Exactly the sky you would expect to be raptured in. The celebrations of the Jewish feasts that we so often did with friends each year (Passover and Purim) gave me insight into the might works God has done for his people in the past and set my expectations for how a loving God rescues. Being in a childrens choir that ministered to homeless shelters opened my eyes to the fact that suffering is always right outside your door but you can do something about it. Missions trips that had really difficult physical and emotional things throughout them (ever start a period in rural China with no feminine products) blur into one amazing event where my sister and I were protected by a spirit of oppression that plagued the rest of our team as we performed music about Jesus in front of a Taiwanese temple. My sister and I were filled for some reason with only, joy. Days or particular bible studies that have led to a plateau like feeling in my faith. So many "it doesn't get better than this" moments with my Jesus who is so patient in teaching/growing me.
   In the times when friends suddenly die, when unexplained bad things have happened to undeserving people. . . so many funerals that I have sung at; these are the times when grief touches my world and brings me down. the suffering of innocent children. Worry, fear, doubt, and insecurity are internal things that come and go like waves when a fierce wind suddenly springs up. Of course there are dry seasons as well. Though I am not facing tragedy I always remember the pain of stagnant times in my walk. Feeling that God is far from me. In those times I wonder, but my faith holds. I cling to those foundational joy moments like a repeat on a favorite song. God is a deliverer. God is a healer. God is a restorer. Delivering my firstborn was a completely overwhelming experience; the first time I truly CRIED OUT to God to deliver me. Trinity was born in the next few minutes and I remember when Jeremy and the nurse took her briefly to the nursery I wept. God proved himself to me in that hour. Things could have gone differently but in his mercy he allowed me to deliver my child without emergency intervention and for that, I had joy. Have other women experienced it differently? Yes. Is their faith stronger because of it? I pray so. Was I thankful it was over either way? You betcha.
   So why did I feel awkward about sharing my answer? Because I haven't walked through the deep waters that many of these women have does that make my faith weaker? Am I that house built on sand that when the flood waters rise I will be washed away? If I go through tragedy firsthand, lose a child or my husband or anyone close to me; if I get cancer or a loved one must go through a prolonged illness that ravages, will my faith stand? When I think this way I almost feel like I am waiting for "the other shoe to drop", but we do not have a God that puts us through trial for no purpose. I must be humble because I know it is only by His grace that I have not experienced those manners of trial/grief/suffering. Most of all I believe I must be joyful. I refuse to borrow trouble and wonder "what if?" . That is not living the life God has called me to live. I do not live in fear of what I may have to go through and what it might do to my faith.  I think that's why I love any verses about God establishing us! Psalm 90 says "may the favor of our Lord God rest upon us, establish the work of our hands", and Romans 16:25 that says "now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ". I love the idea that God's plan has been established from the beginning. It will be accomplished. No matter how contrary that may feel to the circumstances we go through.
Luke 10:21-26
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 22 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

-I live understanding that I am blessed to "see" and to "hear". This is the bottom line. It's okay to answer joy. Yes, laughter may be sweeter after mourning, but it is sweet just the same.