Finding Joy Through Faith in Sorrow

"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you" John 16:22 (NKJV).

Image: Patrick Fore via Unsplash

I was out for my morning "walk with God" last week. The sun was beginning to rise. Streaks of yellow– beams of light– danced between branches of a distant tree line.

The sunrise was the same, but it felt different. The scenery was different. The sounds were different. It was all beautiful, yet different.

The Texas Hill Country Flood

The catastrophic Texas Hill Country flood of July 4, 2025, wiped out lives, families, and businesses. It was as if God took a beautiful creation of His and erased it, like a Navajo sand painting left out in a desert dust storm.

A local radio announcer later said, "Everyone who lives in Kerrville is affected." He was right. Even if what changed was a lifestyle, a style of life that would never be the same.

Those of us who walked, jogged, or biked along the Guadalupe River through Louise Hayes Park were displaced. The flood ripped most of the beautiful cypress trees to shreds.

The river trail appears to have been carpet-bombed. One-hundred-year-old trees stripped bare of green leaves, uprooted, carried downstream, twisted and contorted.

Huge "grapple trucks" with their attached open shipping container trailers in tow resemble a scene from Mad Max—more like giant black hearses transporting the fallen cypress trees to their eternal landfill.

Now, the Guadalupe River is known as the "River of Souls."

The trail regulars scattered. Some found other parks, fitness centers, or local neighborhoods to keep moving, trying to find normal in a nightmare.

A New Walk with God

I moved on to walk at a local college in my search for normal in the nightmare. There I once again "practiced the presence of God," as Brother Lawrence taught three hundred years ago from a Carmelite monastery in Paris, France.

There is a beauty in walking with God in the early morning. The scenery can change. The river can change. Those who walk with God can change; in fact, we should change as our faith in Him grows.

However, God never changes. He is always there to lend a listening ear in our times of joy and sorrow. If we listen carefully, we can even hear Him speak. Sometimes He sends messengers to deliver His message.

Jena's Joy Through Faith in Sorrow

Deep in prayer, I was surprised to see another person coming toward me. I greeted her and continued walking.

I heard her say, "Didn't you walk at Louise Hays Park?" We began talking about what had taken place during and after the flood, both in disbelief.

She said her name was Jena and that she met with some friends to talk about loss and PTSD.

Jena spoke about Post Traumatic Stress as someone knowledgeable. Initially, I thought she might be a "helping professional" leading the group of friends.

But no. Jena was dealing with her own pain and stress. Her beloved brother had recently passed away. Jena's sorrow was obvious. I started to offer my condolences, but Jenna politely interrupted.

She looked at the cross around my neck and said, "You are a Christian. So am I." She smiled and spoke briefly about her faith. It was as if her joy was superimposed on her sadness. I just listened. And then she said, "Let me show you something."

Jena's Bell-Cross Bracelet

Jenna rolled up her sleeve to reveal a bracelet on her right wrist. It was silver with several charms attached. She pointed to a small bell and next to it a cross. Jena said, "Every step I take, I hear the tiny ding of the bell. It reminds me that my brother is next to Jesus."

I was amazed at how Jena found joy through faith in the midst of sorrow. Her joy wasn't tied to pleasant circumstances. She could find that special fruit of the Spirit, joy, while deep in suffering the loss of her brother.

Walking the Christian Talk

We agreed to visit again if our paths cross in the future. As I was walking away, I sensed the Holy Spirit reminding me of the disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

The event wasn't the same, but many of the feelings were the same. Feelings of loss and confusion over tragic life events. Sharing in another's sorrow and grief over the loss of a loved one. The general sensation "this can't be happening, but it is."

John 16:22 came alive..." Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."

They were not simple words written in a book; it was Jesus speaking to Jena and me on that walking path in Kerrville, Texas, 2000 years after He spoke to His first disciples.

Most importantly, I was seeing how Jena was demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. She found joy despite her sorrow because she had faith that God's Word is true.

Jena was shining the Light of Christ and showing what it means to "walk the Christian talk."

A Few Takeaways

• Joy doesn't depend on circumstances. Jena demonstrates that biblical joy, as a fruit of the Spirit, can coexist with deep sorrow. Her joy wasn't tied to pleasant situations but rooted in her faith that her brother is "next to Jesus."

• God meets us in our displacement. Whether it's a literal displacement from a natural disaster or the emotional displacement of grief, God continues to walk with us in new places and circumstances. He is always there

• Faith creates tangible reminders of hope. Jena's bell-cross bracelet illustrates how believers can create tangible reminders of spiritual truths. Hearing a tiny "ding" with each step transforms ordinary moments into reminders of eternal hope.

• God sends messengers when we need them most. My encounter with Jena wasn't coincidental - it was a divine appointment. Sometimes God speaks through Scripture, sometimes through nature, and sometimes through fellow believers as they walk their own difficult paths.

• Suffering can become a platform for ministry. Jena isn't a counselor, yet her authentic experience of finding joy in sorrow is a powerful testimony that blessed me and hopefully, you as well.

• The Gospel is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. Jesus' words to the disciples in John 16:22 aren't simply historical—they are living encouragement to Jena, me, and you as we walk with God in quiet morning hours.