{"id":13816,"date":"2025-12-22T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=13816"},"modified":"2025-11-29T06:23:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T11:23:36","slug":"rejoice-and-weep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/rejoice-and-weep\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoice and Weep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rejoicing with people often seems harder than weeping with them. Envy over another\u2019s good fortune can make celebrating their blessing difficult. However, when someone suffers a loss or deep heartache, sitting with them in their sadness to alleviate the loneliness that comes with pain doesn\u2019t take as much effort. Suffering people tug at our heartstrings, evoking empathy and a desire to lessen their pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my single years, I hated going to weddings. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, the ceremony emphasized my loneliness and made rejoicing difficult. Bitterness would take root, and I would have to battle not to let it grow and flourish. Desiring a mate myself, I struggled with loneliness. Sitting alone in church, Sunday after Sunday, watching couples sit side by side, nothing made me feel lonelier than the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, comforting a friend going through a breakup didn\u2019t challenge me as much because I could relate to the pain of loneliness and rejection. Fast forward to the present day, and I\u2019ve learned a lot about relationships. Now I know, some of the most miserable people live in loveless marriages, and some of the happiest live single lives. We never truly understand the inner workings of another\u2019s life because we don\u2019t walk in their shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, when someone has something to rejoice over, I do it gladly. Suffering takes a toll on everyone, each of us dealing with unseen struggles. Whoever you meet today has a hidden battle. No one has a carefree life. The Lord told us we would have trouble in this world, but take heart: He overcame them for us (John 16:33). So, rejoicing when we have opportunities to rejoice taps into the hope of the Savior. In Him, we have all we need to rejoice when people rejoice and weep when they weep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When have you had trouble rejoicing with someone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what ways does weeping with someone seem more manageable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has exemplified rejoicing and weeping with others well in your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joyful Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Find someone to rejoice with today and share in their joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-minute read. Rejoicing with people often seems harder than weeping with them. Envy over another\u2019s good fortune can make celebrating their blessing difficult. However, when someone suffers a loss or deep heartache, sitting with them in their sadness to alleviate the loneliness that comes with pain doesn\u2019t take as much effort. Suffering people tug at… Continue reading Rejoice and Weep<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13819,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions\/13819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}