Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice

It was my senior year of college and my two roommates and I were all candidates for a prestigious award given by the College of Education.  The award was given to four interns in four different categories according to the grades taught.  It was awarded to the intern who seemed to have the most promise in the field of education based on his or her student teaching experience.  I was nominated for the high school category from the English department, and Emily and Ashley were able to both be nominated from the elementary department because they taught drastically different grades.  We had no idea of our chances of winning, but we knew that Emily’s competition in particular was steep.  She was up against one of those super interns who had the type of accomplishments master teachers never achieve.  Seriously, she must have dedicated all her time and passion to her semester of internship.  I have no idea when the girl found time to sleep and eat.  Emily was an outstanding intern and an even more outstanding teacher later in her career, but she was in the middle of planning a large wedding in addition to juggling the responsibilities of her intern requirements.  It was not uncommon to see her bedroom floor littered with wedding invitations, menu options, lesson plans, study materials, and Chi-fil-a takeout! 

 

Needless to say, when we got the emails about the award designations Superwoman beat out sweet, overworked Emily. I found out the results before my roommate.  She had just parked her car in the driveway.  It was late, she was tired, and as I heard the jeep door slam, I clicked open the email that revealed that Ashley and I (who weren’t up against serious competition) had won the award.  Beyond excited for myself, I ran out of the house and met Emily on the walkway.  “I won the award!” I screamed.  “Ashley did too!!” I added, and then quite rudely tacked on, “I’m so sorry; Jennifer beat you.”  I cannot think of a worse way to handle that news.  I was so excited for myself and Ashley that I didn’t consider Emily’s feelings until the words were out of my mouth.  I have a common problem of speaking before I think, and my poor roommates were more often than not the victims of my verbal vomit, but this situation took the cake.  However, what I will never forget about that night was Emily’s reaction.  Her first response was a cheer as she hugged me and celebrated with me.  Her second response was a laughing, forgiving, “I can’t believe you just told me I didn’t get that award that way!!” 

 

Today, I was reading Romans 12:15 and William Barclay’s commentary to accompany it, and the combined reading reminded me of Emily and her reaction 7 years ago. Verse 15 says “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn,” and in his commentary on the passage, William Barclay notes that it is easier to mourn with those who mourn than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice. His words rang very true.  Our hearts easily burn with sympathy when we see others enduring difficult times and situations, but it is hard to see people rejoice when we ourselves are struggling.  It is hard to put aside our own desires, and celebrate the good of others, but the times I have seen others successfully rejoice with those who rejoice, I see a beautiful picture of Christ and what it means to live in Christian love. 

 

I will never forget the way Emily responded to me in the dark driveway that night.  I will never forget the love and joy and forgiveness she offered me.  But, there are other sweet friends of mine who are awesome pictures of the scripture, too.  I have had more than one friend who have painfully waited and waited on God’s perfect timing for a baby, but I have seen them rejoice greatly and throw baby showers and celebrate at hospitals when their friends or family members have given birth.  I have another friend who desperately wants and prays to be married, but she was one of the people who was most excited for me when I got engaged, and she happily talked wedding details with me frequently in the months leading to my wedding. 

 

There is something about people who are able to rejoice with those who rejoice, and I think it has to do with allowing God’s peace to live in their hearts.  One of my friends, who is still waiting on a baby, has told me that she truly believes God has promised her and her husband a child.  She doesn’t know when his timing will come to pass (we are all praying this year!!), but I think her ability to dwell on his promise to her and live in the peace of the knowledge that he will provide allows her to be the friend who rejoices with others in their pregnancies.  I admire her.  And, from her, I have learned that the trick to rejoicing with others is to believe that God is working all things together for good.  His ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), but they are for our good, and when we rest on his power, we have the strength needed to rejoice with others.