Despite The Pain, God Is Still Writing Joy Into Your Story
Grief does not last forever, does not stand the test of time, even when it tries to convince you otherwise.
There comes a day, sometimes so quietly and namelessly that you don’t even notice it at first, when the weight lifts to the smallest degree. When your laughter feels unburdened for the first time. When your joy doesn’t feel like a betrayal of what you have been through, but an honoring of what you survived.
It might feel unfamiliar at first to not be waiting for the next loss, to not be constantly scanning the horizon of your hope for heartbreak. But God isn’t finished with your story, and he is not afraid to fill it with beauty again.
Joy was never dismissed by what hurt you; it was only delayed. And now, after all the nights you didn’t think you’d make it, after all the experiences you never thought you would survive, joy cracks into your life again—not as a distraction, but as evidence that God is restoring you from the inside out.
You are allowed to feel light again. You are allowed to dream again. You are allowed to hope deeply and to love freely and to step into your life without constantly bracing for the worst. God doesn’t just rescue; he renews. He writes new chapters. And even if you don’t know what they will hold yet, you can trust that his goodness hasn’t run out.
Let joy surprise you. Let it meet you where you are—not when you think you have earned it, but when you’re finally ready to receive it. You don’t have to fight to keep your heart open anymore—God is building a beautiful thing within you. And this joy? This joy is part of the healing, too.
Prayer
God, thank you for not leaving me in the dark. Thank you for holding me through the ache and walking with me through the heaviness. I didn’t think I’d get here, but you never stopped leading me. I am ready to believe in joy again. Let it grow slowly and softly within me. Let it teach me how to live with hope again.
Amen.
For more writing like this, check out the various books by author Rebecca Simon.
