“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15

Neither of these are always easy tasks, and can leave us feeling a little awkward sometimes, but we are called to do both.

Rejoice with those who rejoice:

It would seem to be the easier one of the two, but honestly, sometimes it’s difficult being happy for others. If we’re not careful, circumstances can lead us away from the rejoicing and take us to a place of bitterness (or other feelings) instead.

During the three years that I waited for God to answer my prayer for a baby of my own, it seemed like EVERYONE else was getting pregnant. Friends, family, even the “kids” from church that had since grown up.

At first, it was easy to be happy and rejoice with those pregnancy announcements, in hopes that it would soon be my turn. Then after a couple years of what felt like everyone else getting the answer to MY prayer, it was difficult to even pretend to be happy for them. Living in a world of social media only made it worse. The “love” became a “like”, which then became a keep scrolling and asking “why not me?”… and maybe even an eye roll or two, if I’m being completely honest. I became blind to the fact that this might have been an answer to their prayer and allowed bitterness start to take root.

God gently reminded me one of those time I kept scrolling, that I needed to rejoice with them. Begrudgingly, I scrolled back up and I mustered up a “like”. More and more times this happened, and He again reminded me, I needed to not just pretend to be happy, but genuinly share in their joy. Didn’t I want the same if it were me? This was not easy, but I made every effort.

One day in prayer, while filling out my prayer journal, I was impressed to first write down all the things I was thankful for all over one of the pages and then go back through and circle all the prayers that were answered. I was overwhelmed with how many prayers had been answered. One stuck out as not yet answered… the baby. I knew that if God had answered the other prayers over time, this would come to pass as well. Little did I know, that as I was thanking God for all these blessings and answered prayers, and asking for forgiveness for my bitterness and lack of faith, the answer to my prayer had already come! Just a week later, I found out I was pregnant. During the pregnency, anytime I might start to worry about something, my mind was eased with the fact that this was bathed in prayer for years. What a blessing and assurance that was to me.

Weep with those that weep:

Last year, I had a funeral and a wedding to attend… all in the same day. I knew it was going to be an exhasuting day before the day arrived.

On the way to the funeral, my heart got heavier and heavier the closer I got to the church. It would have been “easier” to turn around and go home. I did have a baby at home, and a wedding an hour an half away to go to later. While I wasn’t going to be able to stay for the entire service, I knew I had to go at least to the viewing to support the family…no matter how difficult it was. And it was difficult.

The funeral was for a little boy who was killed in a tragic car accident. Tears filled my eyes before I could even enter the sanctuary. This was a little boy I had seen grow, and even played with when he came into the office to visit his mommy. The baby pictures in the slide show tugged at the new mom in me. As I sat with my coworkers, I looked to see if anyone saw me crying. I then noticed that we all seemed to be crying. It was relieving to not be the only one. This is one of the reasons why we are called to weep with those who weep. Sometimes, we feel we have to hold it together. When someone weeps with us, it allows us to freely mourn and release the hurt we hold onto.

The heading for the section of Scripture in Romans 12 is titled ‘Love in Action.’ Participating in the ups and downs of life of those around us is a way to show God’s love. Sometimes to rejoice wih others, we have to let go of some things. If we hold on to what keeps us from rejoicing with others, we are stopping the love of God from flowing through us to them. When we mourn with others, we help them (and ourselves) let go and make room for His love and peace to reside. So let go and let God’s love be shed through those tears of joy and tears of mourning.