You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy.
– Psalm 30:11, NRSV
You changed my mourning into dancing.
You took off my funeral clothes
and dressed me up in joy.
– Psalm 30:11, CEB
“Can you say something at the reception?” the bride and groom asked. “Something about the day?”
The “day,” the date they had chosen for their wedding, was the 11th of September. September 11th. They had chosen the date, in part, because of the way it fell right between their parents’ anniversaries on September 10th and September 12th. (I also suspect they had chosen the day because it was open and available — not nearly as heavily-booked as other dates on the wedding venue’s fall calendar. After all… who wants to put “September 11th” on their wedding invitations?)
September 11th. For this couple, it would be their wedding day. For years to come, their anniversary. For the rest of their marriage, a day of joy.
But they were mindful, of course, that for everyone else, that date held another meaning altogether. For everyone else, September 11th was — and is — a day of loss, a day of fear, a day of mourning. The couple wanted me to say something — anything — that would speak both to our nation’s grief and the newlyweds’ joy.
And so I chose these words from the psalms:
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy.
While the happy occasion on that September 11th didn’t erase the suffering or sadness of the original September 11th, it added something new, something joyful, something worth celebrating. Mourning that gives way to dancing. Grief that gives way to joy.
That’s just the kind of thing our God does, friends. Our God turns mourning into dancing, grief into joy.
I wonder what God will do with this season of coronavirus, this season of mourning and grief, this season of loss and limits, this season of sorrow and struggle. I wonder how God will use even this to bring forth joy.
Watch and wait for that joy, friends… and as you do, may you remember:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Blessings,
Pastor Candy
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- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
