The apostle Paul's epistle to the Philippian church is only four short chapters and one hundred and four verses, but the number of references to "joy" and "rejoicing" in it is as many as sixteen, an average of four occurrences per chapter. The apostle Paul was very happy, and his happiness was hard-won and rare. He was in prison at the time, and the reason for his imprisonment was not a crime, but the preaching of the gospel. The source of his joy came from Jesus Christ, that is, his joy in the Lord.
In fact, we can see and hear such testimonies around us. There is a sister who is rejoicing in the Lord. She had followed her grandmother to church since she was a child, and naturally trusted the Savior when she grew up. Although she trusted in the Lord at that time, like most believers, she only had Him in her heart, but seldom pursued Him herself and did not go to church often.
Later, this sister married a man from the same village and gave birth to a boy. Her husband was in a construction business that sounded quite profitable; however, not only did he not make any money, he also owed many debts and was chased almost every day, and the family lived in fear and had no peace. In order to get out of this predicament, the sister divorced her husband and the child was raised by his father.
After the divorce, the sister went out to run a snack business; although it was hard work, she could earn some money to pay for child support; moreover, her store was close to the church, so she could attend church meetings regularly. In this way, while she was making some money from her business, her spiritual life was also greatly improved, and she attended meetings regularly, and gradually served in the church.
About three years after her store opened, the sister was introduced to her current husband. He was a brother in the Lord who loved the Lord passionately when he was young, but later, when his business grew, he turned away from the Lord and did not often attend church services. As such, he was not baptized. Still, he had the Lord in his heart and was very supportive of her ministry. After she got married, she gave birth to another child, a daughter. Thus, she had two children, one boy and one girl. In addition, her current husband loved her and supported her in her faith and service. She felt that she had finally come to the end of her suffering and was so happy. However, her happiness was shattered by a sudden car accident. The sister's son, who was only twenty years old, lost his life in a car accident.
This hit her so hard that she fainted several times while dealing with the car accident. The sister also felt indebted to herself for not doing her motherly duty and believed that her child's car accident was also related to her divorce and not being by his side. This added to her pain, and it was even inferred that it would be difficult for the sister to get over the pain for a while or even in the future.
It is hard to imagine what kind of pain and suffering she went through during that time; however, after half a year, she has almost come out of the last painful experience, and at least she presents herself to us as joyful and positive. Moreover, she loves the Lord more than ever before and is willing to serve.
How was this sister able to come out of the pain of losing her son? There are many reasons. She had to look forward instead of just wallowing in pain. Moreover, she had a husband and daughter to take care of. One of the key reasons is Jesus Christ. In her own words, "Without Jesus Christ, I would not be where I am today. It is the gift of Christ that I can have joy."
- Translated by Wylie Sun
