Our Joy
Happiness Amid Sorrow
Joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
I’ve already discussed the peace, comfort, and hope that Lauren and I had. Another feeling that surprised us was joy.
Joy is more than just a feeling of happiness. It’s a state, a result of choice. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and a part of the experience of being a Christian.
We were given joy by the Spirit and chose to focus on the things that brought us joy. We rejoiced in the time we had with Christopher. As I noted previously, we didn’t know if we would be able to spend much time with him on earth. Thankfully, we were able to spend over a week with him.
We also rejoiced in God’s clear direction. At almost every step along the way, we knew what we needed to do.
Our main source of joy was the perfect healing God gave our son. While we miss Christopher, we rejoice that he no longer feels any pain or discomfort from the CHD he had.
While we were in the hospital with Christopher, the passage we most often read to him was 1 Corinthians 15:42-57. In that passage, Paul is discussing the resurrection body. Since Christ has risen from the dead, Paul confidently teaches his readers about the resurrection from the dead.
Paul writes that what is perishable turns to imperishable, dishonor to glory, weakness to power, natural to spiritual (1 Cor. 15:42-43). Adam had a natural body, Christ’s resurrection gave him a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44-47). The natural comes first, and those who are of the dust remain as “the man of dust” (1 Cor. 15:48). Those who believe in Christ were once like that “man of dust,” but are now like Christ (1 Cor. 15:49).
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but one day the perishable will put on the imperishable, and the mortal body will put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:50-53). When that happens, death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54).
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
In all this, God gives us the victory through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). And because of these truths, we can and should stand firm and continue in good works, knowing that our labor is not worthless in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).
Although we grieve his passing, we rejoice that Christopher no longer needs to worry about his mortal, perishable body. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, where we will join him in our immortal bodies.
This is part five of my CHD Awareness Week series. To read the previous entry, click the button below:
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