Deepest Waters and Hottest Fires
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! - Psalm 31:11-12
I’ve always thought that this Psalm about God turning mourning to dancing meant that mourning and dancing cannot (or at least do not) coexist. I presumed that God basically strips away our mourning so that it is completely removed, and then the dancing comes in later, down the road, once every drop of mourning is gone.
The past seven weeks have made me realize how deeply untrue that is. So much of our dancing is because we are mourning, and yet God’s promise and presence and peace intermingles with our sorrow, making the dancing even sweeter than it would be without mourning. It’s complex, but I think it’s right: we won’t truly know how to dance if we haven’t first had to mourn. It is the mourning which draws us into an ever deeper, richer, sweeter dance with the God of the Universe as we see He is faithful to meet our every need.
Here’s why this works: true praise bursts forth when we know the One True God, and the more we know him, the more abundantly that praise pours. Elisabeth Elliott, a champion of suffering herself, said it well: “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.”
I really think that this is why we can dance in the midst of our trials. This is why we feel a sweet joy, a quiet strength, and a rooted peace like never before. Every single setback, every single bout of bad news and times we are brought to our knees helps us to experience God more fully, more deeply; and it is in that fuller experience of Him that abundant joy resounds.
I was listening to a podcast yesterday about suffering. One of the pastors on the panel observed that it is common in the midst of trials to ask, “What did I do to deserve this?”
He posed a different perspective: those in suffering get to more intimately know God than those not in suffering. They get to taste the depth of His compassion, the treasure of His love, and the inextricable oneness that comes with sharing in Christ’s sufferings. So now in awe-filled joy, we get to ask, “What did I do to deserve THIS?!”
Christ was intimately acquainted with suffering: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him (Isaiah 53:3-6). He left His home in glory to walk the Earth, enduring persecution, accusations, and crucifixion, yet He was the most joyful person in the world as he walked closely in step with the Spirit of God.
I have to think that much of this joy stemmed from the desperate dependence He had on God. Despite being God Himself, He assumed the likeness of humanity. As a man, Jesus tasted the fullness of God’s providence when suffering with hunger. He plumbed the depths of God’s protection when suffering persecution. And He enjoyed the vastness of God’s grandeur, sovereignty, and love when he willingly endured the cross.
The depth of that experiential knowledge does bring abundant joy! There is so much to know about God, and so much of that goes unsearched when we live comfortable, satisfied lives of ease.
My mom’s cancer battle helps me to experience the fullness of God’s compassion and nearness.
Her numbered days help me be reminded of His omniscience and eternality.
Her moments of painlessness allow me to see Him as a gracious healer.
Our many car troubles, oftentimes easily resolved, help me see that He works in every detail.
Our negative pregnancy tests, over and over again, remind me that His timing and plan are perfect.
Every visitor, friend, gift, meal, hug, card, and thoughtful gesture in the midst of this fire gives us glimpses of the God who abundantly, bountifully, excessively blesses His children with every good and perfect gift.
That is not to say that we can’t know these things without suffering, but it does confirm that the deepest waters and hottest fires do in fact bring about the deepest things we can know about God. To Him be the glory!