“Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.” — Psalm 126:5–6
Our Story
In 2021, my husband accepted the role as pastor in a small church in the Adirondacks. This church was filled with the kindest elderly saints. They loved their church family deeply and cared for visitors as if they were already their own. Yet, like many rural churches in the Northeast, the pews were filled with a remnant of believers.
Within the first few years of ministry my husband and I clung to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These men tell the story of rebuilding the temple and walls in Jerusalem. God spared a remnant of Israelites after their Babylonian exile. They were vulnerable to the world around them. The remnant lacked security and had no place to worship. Ezra and Nehemiah entered the scene to renew the people’s spirit. They embodied deep anguish, faithful labor, and triumphant growth.
Rebuilding is Never Easy
The rebuilding process was not easy. Enemies discouraged, troubled, and frustrated the people (Ezra 4:4–5). Sin crept into the community. Shame embarrassed and guilt overwhelmed, but God’s grace preserved the remnant. They did not fail to rebuild because restoration comes from God (Ezra 9:4–9).
The walls of our physical church building were not worn, but our people were. They had been faithful for so many years and were praying for the day that God would rebuild their church. My husband and I have faced a series of discouraging waves along the way. We have asked ourselves if God would rebuild our little church or if we were walking into oblivion.
God is always faithful. He will not abandon his children. He will not allow his church to fade into oblivion. The labor is hard, but the harvest is worth it.
Learning to Sit in the Tension
Life is about learning to sit in the tension of thankful and hard.
My natural instinct is to run when something is intimidating. Stepping out in faith requires forward motion. You cannot obey God by running from difficulty. So, we must do the next thing. Take the step forward even when everything inside screams to stand still.
Joy and Weeping
The people of Judah began to rebuild the temple in Ezra 3. When the foundation was laid, the Levites led the people in worship. They shouted that “[the Lord] is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.” The rebuilding process elicited shouts of joy and singing, yet there were some who wept loudly (Ezra 3:10–13).
The weeping was not joyful. The older priests remembered the temple’s former glory. When you enter a rebuilding season there will be seasons of grief, but the grief will soon mingle with joy for what is being made new.
The prophet Haggai spoke to the people about their grief and joy. He said:
“Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison? Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel — this is the LORD’s declaration. Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land — this is the LORD’s declaration. Work, for I am with you — the declaration of the LORD of Armies.” (Haggai 2:3–4)
“For the Lord of Armies says this: Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory.” (vv. 6–7)
“The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the LORD of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place.” (v. 9)
Living in Sacred Tension
Judah waited for the treasure of all nations to arrive. They longed for the glory of the LORD to fill the temple. The treasure of all nations is Jesus. Christ came to earth to rebuild a broken people. He died to bring relief from sin and defeat death.
Sacred tension can exist because we live in the already and not yet. We labor diligently to build God’s church because the treasure of nations has already come. We wait between grief and glory because the final restoration is yet to be.
Sometimes the hardest moments of life aren’t the hardest seasons. It is possible to live thankful and troubled. The world’s adversity is great, but God’s grace is greater.
Brokenness and trials do not get the final word. This is why in the tension we can say, “Thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
What sacred tension are you living in today?
How can you give thanks to God and recognize that this trouble is meant to make you hunger for restoration in heaven?
We know that God is patient and that life here can sometimes seem long. Those truths create times of waiting. Times when our flesh desires for immediate change. When our minds seem incapable of continuing to hold together if the circumstances remain the same. Yet God allows for us to linger there.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 ESV
I’ve come back here many, many times when “hope” seems distant. But God tells us that “hope DOES NOT put us to shame”!!