Sowing in Tears, Reaping Shouts of Joy

The Bible doesn't sugarcoat our journey and pretend it's all rainbows and unicorns. It's clear that darkness will come. Tears are around the corner. The weeping is real. Yes. We are on a journey of ascent, but we ascend with tears. That's something we've gotta come to terms with. That no matter how much God does for you in this life, no matter how many blessings you have, no matter how good it gets, there is no unbroken joy. There's always sorrow as well. We're all gonna weep. We're all gonna hurt. We're all gonna go through intense low valleys. The question is, how are you weeping? How are you hurting? How will you go through the valleys? This psalm is telling us to weep upward. [00:40:42] (52 seconds)  #WeepUpward

A city that God is bringing his people to where they should have been all along. And I think that's what the psalmist has in mind. Even if he is specifically talking about coming back from exile, I think ultimately he's writing about being restored back to life, about salvation. He's being restored not just to an eternal city to live with God forever. God has given him salvation right now, right here in this broken world with his broken life. He's been rescued, restored, and he has the promise to be reunited with God forever in a new earth, in a new city that God is making right now. And so I think the Psalmist is telling us this, that of all people, we Christians who have experienced salvation of all people, we have the most to be joyful about. We should be the most joyful people in this world. We've been brought from death to life. We've been brought from hell to heaven. [00:27:59] (64 seconds)  #RestoredToLife

We should be the most joyful people in this world. We've been brought from death to life. We've been brought from hell to heaven. We we've been brought from the desert to a new city. Our lives have been restored to God. And I actually think that is some of the clearest evidence that you really are a Christian. If you've ever doubted your salvation, if you've ever wondered, am I truly a father of Jesus? Did I really mean it? Am I really a believer and follower? I think this is some of the most clear indication, the clearest evidence that you have a new joy now that you never had before. [00:28:52] (39 seconds)  #JoyIsEvidence

That that our tears can be invested here. It says, we sow our tears. Tears are water and water brings life and beauty. Our tears, our sorrow, our hurting, our weeping, our valleys, it's all leading to something beautiful. Which is why number three, man, we journey with hope. We journey with hope. Even though the second half of this Psalm verses four through six, there's there's this this it's it's sorrowful. There's weeping. There's tears. It's also infused with joy. Right? Like like verse five, those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Verse six, those who plant seeds while weeping will surely come back with shouts of joy. There's this infusion of hope even during the sorrow. Even while you're in the valley, even while you are weeping, you can have hope. Your valleys are not wasted. Your valleys are not meaningless. [00:41:34] (63 seconds)  #SowTearsReapJoy

Jesus's story ended with joy even though he went through the darkest valley of sorrow. I don't know what valleys you're going through, but I know this according to the Bible. Your story, if you have Jesus, it ends with joy because that's the one we follow. [00:58:45] (17 seconds)  #JoyThroughChrist

I know a few people in our church are in the darkest valleys they've likely ever faced. And man, if that's where you are, if that's where you find yourself this morning, I just wanna say, I'm so sorry that you're there. This life is tough. The journey is bumpy. It goes low sometimes. The valley that you're in, it's not in your imagination. Your sorrow is is real and it is not sinful. The struggle is real and it's really tough, but I just wanna encourage you with what I see in the Psalm. And what I see in this Psalm is this, sorrow doesn't have the last word. [00:43:33] (41 seconds)  #ValleysDontWin

We have salvation, but yet some of us we can get so off course that we forget what we have and we walk through life with such minimal to no joy even though we've been loved and rescued by God himself. We who should have the most joy sometimes walk through life with the least joy. And so God commands us all through the Bible to be joyful on this journey. Let me just show you a few places. Philippians four. It says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. That that that's Paul saying, man, have joy in all situations. And in case you missed it, me say it again. Have joy. [00:30:54] (37 seconds)  #RejoiceAlways

Yes. There's aching and longing in verse four. Yes. The Psalmist feels like he's in a desert in verse four. Yes. There are tears in verse five and weeping in verse six, but the last words are joy. Reaping with shouts of joy, coming back with shouts of joy. Whatever valley you find yourself in this morning, that is not the end of your story. If you have Jesus, the end of your story is joy. The end of your story is life. God is guaranteed that if you have Jesus, your joyful future is secure. And God also wants you to experience as much joy as possible right now. [00:44:14] (45 seconds)  #HopeInTheValley