Sometimes the celebration arrives before the heart is ready for it. The table is set, the candles are burning, people are laughing — and yet, in the midst of the joy, someone sits who is still standing inwardly on a battlefield, in a shelter, or in the memory of captivity. Can a person celebrate while still suffering? Is joy even allowed to take up space as long as the pain has not disappeared? The Bible offers no superficial answer to this. In the Book of Nehemiah, we encounter people who have just returned to their homeland. They hear the words of the Bible and begin to weep. It is not a call to suppress the tears. It is the remarkable biblical message that pain and joy can dwell in the same heart — and that true joy may begin precisely where we no longer have to hide our pain.
In recent years, I have read much about soldiers who have returned from battlefields and about hostages who have come home from captivity. Despite all the love and care that surrounds...
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