Finding Joy in the Midst of Grief
By: Chelsey DeMatteis The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. - Daniel 6:23 I can still see the sunny Sunday morning sun piercing through the windows as I got dressed to meet my friend for coffee. We met every Sunday before church to talk ministry, marriage, and all things life. In this particular season, I was in a hard place of trying to become pregnant. Unfortunately, I know some of you know this season all too well. You feel like every commercial on TV is about pregnancy tests, diapers, and baby toys. Not to mention every time you open up a social media app on your phone there is yet another announcement of a birth or pregnancy. That Sunday morning, just as I bent over to grab my jeans from the drawer, I felt the Lord boldly place on my heart my friend was pregnant. My eyes filled with tears, my mind filled with questions, and my heart grieved because again, someone else was getting the blessing I was praying for. My grief clouded all of the joy God had been gifting me. I remember thinking in a weird way I should be joyfully thanking God for His kindness in sharing this news with me before I got blindsided over a cup of coffee. It's a hard thing when you find yourself in a season full of His blessings; comfort, provision, community, but you can't see any of them when your heart is sinking in grief. I remember asking the Lord, "why her and not me, why can't I be happy for everyone else, why can't I be happy with what I do have?" The asking of these questions created a pivotal point in my walk with Jesus. I realized joy can't be based on my circumstances. True joy from Christ comes from our relationship with Him, not the circumstance He's allowed us to be in. Daniel, and his experience in the lions' den, is who comes to mind when I think of someone who had a supernatural peace and joy in Christ. He could've much more easily allowed the grief of his situation cloud God's goodness. People scheming against him, then telling him he cannot pray to his God for 30 days, then arrested for praying in private, and wrongly stuck in the lions' den. That to me sounds like a whole lot of grief-filled happenings. | 
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