I was restless last night. I couldn’t sleep because the small poison ivy rash on my pinky finger kept bothering me. Even though the rash is smaller than a penny, my entire body suffered for it. As I lay in bed, I was reminded of Romans 12:5, which says that “we though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” When one member of Christ’s body is in pain, the rest of his body is affected. At some point the anti-itch cream started to kick in, and the rest of my body rejoiced along with my pinky that I could finally get some sleep.
A few verses after identifying the church as Christ’s body, Paul describes the marks of the true Christian, including in verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” After last night the connection between being one body and empathizing with other members became clear to me. If we, God’s global church, are one body, then if one member rejoices, we all do, and the same goes for weeping.
What if one member rejoices while another weeps (as inevitably happens when the body encompasses Christians all over the world)? We do both. Last night, amidst my annoyance with the rash on my pinky finger, I was still grateful that more of my skin had not brushed against the poison ivy. In that sense, my body and all its members were simultaneously weeping and rejoicing.
You can weep and rejoice at the same time.
During this season of raising support, I have frequently held the tension between weeping and rejoicing. For one, I have met with a lot of people who are each going through unique experiences and seasons. Some are watching their dreams come true while others are watching their careers and families fall apart. Within hours I have cried in sorrow and shouted for joy.
I have also felt this tension when speaking with other Goers. While my own experience with raising financial support had its challenges, it has been overwhelmingly positive as I have seen God answer my prayers and come through in huge and unexpected ways. Just a couple examples:
- I surpassed my financial goal in only seven weeks – half the time allotted. I prayed that God would allow me to finish by the end of July, and he did it a whole week earlier!
- Before I started, I worried that I did not know enough people with the financial means to reach my goal. Well, over 17% of my financial support is coming from people I had never met before, and people I do know are still asking me for support meetings…even though I am already fully funded!
These are all reasons to rejoice, and as I share them with other Goers, they rejoice with me. However, amidst my rejoicing some Goers are feeling deeply discouraged by weeks of much effort and little progress. Some of us are facing unimaginable personal struggles. So, while I rejoice in God’s provision, I also weep with those who are suffering.
Whether we are weeping or rejoicing at any given moment or doing both at the same time, other verses in Romans 12 suggest how we might do it well:
- “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (v. 10).
- “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (v. 12).
I am thankful that God’s daily provision and mercies remind us of the ultimate hope I have that “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us…into his presence” (2 Cor. 4:14).
And praise God that as we face tribulation, we can be patient, clinging to the promise that “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).
As we operate as one body, in brotherly love, with constant prayer, outdoing one another in showing honor, we can expect the world to ask why, and that is the coolest question we have the privilege of answering- in fact, it’s the reason I signed up to GO in the first place!
My prayer for whoever reads this is that within your community, "the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).