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Turning Sorrow into Joy
by Darryl Manning March 18, 2001
INTRO: God delights in turning our sorrow into joy
· The sorrows of Egypt into the joy of his presence and a Land of promise
· David from an outlaw to the King
· Barren Hannah into the fruitful mother of Samuel and then three s. & two d.
· Sorrow of Mary and Martha into joy when He resurrected their brother Lazareth
SOME SCRIPTURES ABOUT SORROW TURNING INTO JOY
Neh. 8:9And Nehemiah, who was the £governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Est. 9: 20And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.
Is. 51: 11The ransomed of the LORD will return. 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. NIV
Jer. 31: 12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. 14I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD. NIV
John 16: 20Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. … 23“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
There are three ways that God turns our sorrow into joy
1. First, He just invades our life and does a miracle
· Widow at Zaraphath
· Man at the pool of Bethesda
2. Second, He answers our prayers: Jehosophat against people of Moab and Ammon:
2 Chron. 20 ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.”
Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.”£
22Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the LORD.
3. Third, He instructs us to rejoice in faith and our sorrow is later turned into joy: Paul and Silas in the Phillipi jail
22Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. Luke 6:22-23
23And having laid many stripes upon them they cast [them] into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely; 24who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and secured their feet to the stocks. 25And at midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing,£ and the prisoners listened to them. 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison shook, and all the doors were immediately opened, and the bonds of all loosed. Darby