When Leah and I were in college, there was a song often led in chapel called “This is How We Overcome.” The song’s chorus repeats itself again and again, and the tempo is more upbeat, which had always made me smile while singing it. The song has taken on a new meaning over the past week and brings a new comfort to me when listening to it. Some of my favorite lyrics from the song include:
Your hand lifted me up, I stand on higher ground
Your praise rose in my heart, and made this valley sing
You have turned my mourning into dancing
You have turned my sorrow into joy
You have turned my mourning into dancing
You have turned my sorrow into joy
This is how we overcome.
As you all know, Leah and I are currently covered in grief with the loss of Leah’s dad, and grief takes time to heal. I do not know that it ever fully heals, but rather we learn to cope with grief by experiencing the joy that can be found, even in sorrow. Joy in sorrow seems so contradictory at first, but it’s a continual theme throughout scripture.
1 Peter, chapter 1 reminds us that we may suffer grief for a little while, but our hope in Jesus carries us through. Verse 8 says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
That is how we overcome.
We overcome our sorrows with joy knowing that one day, we will spend eternity with God. We will spend eternity with our loved ones who have gone before us. Because our grief is for a moment, and God has turned my mourning into dancing.