Tears of Joy in a Time of Pain

I cried this week...

Sure, for those of you who know me personally, that declaration comes as no surprise. I tend to have my emotions only slightly hidden under a veneer of perceived composure, and anything (sometime without warning!) can bring them to the top. But in this case you might have cried as well.

How many years I have known her, I really can't tell. And to say that I "know" her is probably stretching it a bit. She works in the same facility that I work in, but her hours are opposite of mine, so it is rare that I see her. But this week she made a special effort to arrange to meet with me after she got off from work, following a long, busy night.

Here first words were, "I need to take some Family Medical time off." I had heard that her husband was having some health problems, and my initial thought was that he needed her help while he got over his illness. It wasn't that, although her husband had worsened and was currently on hospice. She didn't know how long it would be before he would die. But that isn't why she needed time off.

She had gone to visit her mother and step father last week, getting there just as they were bringing him home following a gall bladder surgery. As soon as she saw him, she said, "What else is going on?" She knew, from working in a hospital, that he shouldn't have a catheter or be on oxygen from a simple gall bladder surgery. Her mom, who is legally blind, didn't know anything, but said that he had an appointment with the doctor on the next Monday.

It was on that day that she discovered her step father, who was more like a father to her than her real father, had stage 4 cancer. It had progressed so much that they would not even start treatments, but immediately arranged for hospice. All she could do was get her cousin, who has multiple sclerosis, to come in to care for him while she rushed back home to request time off, then take her husband with her to spend those last days with Dad.

When she finished telling me this story, she turned to me with her eyes brimming with tears and said, "How can people go through this life without Jesus?"

We arranged for her time off, and I had a prayer with her - and I cried. As she walked away, I was reminded of Job. Job didn't know why he was going through all of the trials that he experienced, but he never let go of God! It is amazing that no matter what happened, he still trusted God. Job 13:15 says, "Though He kills me, yet I will still trust Him."

But what is even more notable is that God trusted him. You see, Satan's accusation was against God, not against Job. Yet God knew Job well enough - the relationship was strong enough - that He was willing to put it all on the line, and know that Job would come out shining as gold - a true witness of what happens when humanity is united in partnership with the Almighty.

So I cried. Not because the story I heard was so sad, which it was, but because here was a woman of God who was trusted to bear the burden and still represent God in a positive light. I cried because I was in the presence of someone who was actively being used by God.

James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." Are you experiencing trials in your life? Do you realize that God is trusting you to be His witness through the fire? Can that fill you with joy in spite of the pain?

Can I shed a tear of joy for you too?