The Story of Joy and Sadness

My son is 13 months old. What that means in terms of entertainment is that we find ourselves watching lots of animations on repeat. One of those that is growing on me is Inside Out. It focuses on the emotional and mental state of Riley, an 11 year old girl on the cusp of puberty. The major emotion in control is Joy who always tries to make sure that Riley is happy. However right round the corner is Sadness, who  literally and metaphorically colours everything around her blue. The other emotions are Fear, Anger and Disgust but these are what I would describe as the supporting cast in this film.

Everything that has been built in Riley’s mind from her memories starts to collapse and Joy goes on a mission to stop this destruction caused majorly by Sadness. At the absolute last moment when Joy is at her wits’ end, she finds one last happy memory. She realizes that the only way the happy moment came to be, is because it started with sadness. Joy and Sadness team up and together build a new internal balanced world for Riley.

It made me think of the verse in Psalm 30: 5…’Weeping may stay for the night but rejoicing comes in the morning.’ It stood out to me the two contrasts weeping and rejoicing, night and morning. One cannot exist without the other and too much of something is simply not good for anyone.

Romans 5:3-4 says we are to “count” or accept, all trials and temptations as a joyful opportunity to deepen our faith and reliance on God for all things.  I loved what a certain commentary said on the meaning of this verse, “We are to “count” or accept, all trials and temptations as a joyful opportunity to deepen our faith and reliance on God for all things.”

If you are going through a hard time and asking God why He allows hard times to begin with, I encourage you to ponder on these thoughts.