Joy in the Midst of Suffering

 A third reason for joy—and this one is related to anticipatory joy mentioned in my previous article—is that our sufferings are not meaningless. Therefore, while "joy in the midst of suffering” may be an oxymoron, it is not a contradiction.

Peter reassures us that "though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials... you are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Pt 1:6-9). After much physical suffering, Paul and Barnabas reminded the Pisidians that "we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). It was with this ultimate hope in mind that Paul could say “we rejoice in our sufferings" (Rom 5:3).

Joy in suffering is not morbid masochism, which is a psychopathological state. And to note a more subtle distinction, joy is not the same as happiness, although both are desirable. Happiness has to do with "happenings" Or "happenstance"; it is a pleasant emotional response of gaiety to a pleasant situation or happening and is therefore incompatible with sorrowful or painful situations.

True joy, on the other hand, can be present in and is much more than a surface emotion. It is a fruit of the Spirit—  a deep, positive spiritual exultation; a profound, jubilant inner response of delight to the presence of God's Spirit within; a rejoicing in his loving providence that always works for good in guiding all of life's events, whether pleasant or painful. As Richard Wagner wrote, "Joy is not in things; it is in us."

While happiness does not require faith, joy as a fruit of the Spirit does, especially when sufferings are involved. How much easier it would be to endure them if Jesus were to appear and tell us what he told the apostles: "in this world you will have trouble. But take heart [cheer up—rejoice]! I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33).

Those with deep faith may not need such an apparition or personal revelation to believe this. But most of us can recognize and admit to a faith-weakness that should prompt us to pray with the apostles, "Increase our faith!" (Lk 17:5). We can also remember and take heart from the Lord's words to the church in Smyrna, which apply to us too: "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.... Be faithful (full of faith throughout the trial), even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (RV 2:10).

Thus the "faith-full" soul finds a twofold joy in suffering. First, there is joy in recognizing that all suffering is not just a hardship to be stoically accepted but is a part of God's loving providence by which Christ shares his cross with us. Second, suffering results in a joyful hundredfold reward that "does not disappoint" (Rom 5:5). Peter links both these reasons for joy in suffering in one sentence: "Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1 Pt 4:13).

Of course, leaning to live in the light of these truths day by day is a long hard process. This is why these words of James are some of the most challenging in Scripture: "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (Jas 1:24). James is saying that our spiritual maturity is calibrated by the degree to which we experience "pure joy" in our trials. Stop for a moment and consider his words in the light of your present suffering whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, interpersonal.

Most of us recognize that we still have a way to go along this arduous road to pure joy. But there are many who show us that it can be done. I once knew a lady who was severely crippled with arthritis and covered head-to-foot with psoriasis. She spent twenty-eight years in a squalid ward in Cook County Hospital in Chicago (a record for any patient in the hospital's history), with never a complaint in all that time, as the nurse told me just before she died. Yet this woman's joy was deep, for she spent her years of torturous agony in the loving presence of God, offering up the sacrifice of what she had loved to do best—and had done with masterful skill: playing the organ and the piano.

Shortly before her death I questioned this woman about joy in suffering. Her reply was a touching masterpiece of spiritual insight into the loving providence of God that operates in and through trials. She told me that her joy was further enhanced by her offering all her suffering for me, that I might become an effective priest to bring many souls to the Lord. She died on Christmas Day and was buried in a pauper's grave; only four people attended her funeral—not even a suffcient number for pallbearers.

To all appearances this woman's life was a dismal failure, but I was privileged to see it for what it really was—a monumental success. Even now I feel the effects of her deathbed promise that she would pray for me in heaven every time I stepped into the pulpit to preach God's word. Her place in heaven may well be higher than that of many who enjoyed places of honor and reputations for holiness in this life.

If this woman's joy on earth vas so great in the midst of such agony, what must her joy in heaven be now? Perhaps Psalm 149:4-9 best describes her status: "The Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds…The praise of God is in their mouths... this is the glory of all his saints."

Perhaps you have traveled from a point of seeing only misery in your cross to one where you can see at least some joy in it. If so, you might ask yourself how close this is to the "pure joy" James mentions. Is it perhaps a joy polluted with tinges of resentment or with doubt about God's love and concern for you? Is it a joy adulterated with self-pity? Does it seek a reason for the suffering with questions like, “Why me?" or “Why this type of suffering—why not depression rather than arthritis, a phobia instead of the misery of an unhappy marriage or divorce?" If our joy in is really pure joy, it is undiluted with such limitations.

This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.