“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing”~ 2 Cor. 6:10
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, lists nine clusters of contrasts; the above text being one of them. Though seemingly illogical, these paradoxes can be sensibly explained. Thinking people realize life is made up of opposites. One necessitates the other. The one proves the other, not by its absence, but by its very presence. Example: how would one know he or she had joy if sorrow was not present? To what would you compare your joy as evidence it was legitimate?
I am emphasizing “authentic joy.” Not the cosmetic, painted on kind, so many professing Christians display today. To me, a lot look like Jack Nickleson in the movie, Batman. They seem to be emulating the Joker with his perennial clown smile. Real Godly joy is more than skin-deep. As the children’s song goes, it’s “down deep in my heart.”
The only time the Bible records that Jesus rejoiced, it says it was, “in spirit.” He had an artesian well that sprung up from deep within. He offered it to the woman at the well. And in His prayer to the Father, in John seventeen, He asks “that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” And the joy He had was not without its sorrows. Remember, “He was a man of sorrows.” His method was to always look past the cross “to the joy set before Him.” Jesus gave an illustration of this when He told of a mother’s pain in childbirth, how she looks past it to the joy that awaits her.
Jesus’ promise to His elect is, “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”