There comes a moment in grief’s journey when the shadows begin to lift—when, without warning, you smile again. But the surprise of laughter can bring an unexpected pang of guilt. After all the weeping, when the heart dares to feel joy again, it often wrestles with a haunting question: Am I allowed to feel this happy?
This week, we reclaim laughter as a gift from God, not a betrayal of the one or the thing we lost. We begin the holy process of relearning joy—gently, bravely, and without shame.
Joy After Grief Is Not Disloyalty—It’s Resurrection
Joy and sorrow are not enemies. They are companions that can coexist in a redeemed heart. Ecclesiastes 3:4 declares, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” God ordained both.
Joy does not erase the love you had. Laughter does not diminish the weight of your loss. The fact that you can feel both grief and gladness is a testament to your healing, not your forgetfulness.
You are not moving on—you are moving forward.
Jesus Knew Sorrow. He Also Celebrated.
Our Savior wept openly at Lazarus’s tomb (John 11:35), yet He also rejoiced in Spirit (Luke 10:21). He dined with friends. He blessed weddings. He delighted in children.
The presence of grief never disqualifies the return of joy. Christ Himself embodied both—inviting us to do the same.
Psalm 30:5 reminds us, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Sometimes morning is not a moment—it’s a process. A slow dawn. A gradual glow. But it comes. And when it does, joy is not a stranger; it’s a promise fulfilled.
Why Does Joy Feel Like Betrayal?
Guilt often follows joy in grief because:
We feel it’s too soon We fear others will misunderstand We think happiness dishonors our loved one We haven’t yet forgiven ourselves for surviving
But you were not created to live in perpetual sorrow. Isaiah 61:3 declares that God gives “the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”
Your healing honors both your loss and your life.
Joy Is Not the Enemy
Pause and ask:
Have I resisted joy because I thought I shouldn’t feel it? Do I carry guilt for moments of laughter? Am I waiting for permission to feel fully alive again?
The truth is: You can laugh again. You can feel light again. And that doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten—only that you are healing.
Joy is sacred. Joy is strength.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 KJV)
Scripture Meditation This Week:
“He will yet fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.” (Job 8:21 KJV)
“To everything there is a season… a time to weep, and a time to laugh.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 KJV)
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 KJV)
Prayer to Relearn Joy:
Father, I thank You because I know You hear me. Let Your will be done.
You see my tears and my laughter.
You know my fear of forgetting, my guilt for smiling, my ache for the days that once were.
Help me to trust that joy does not betray my grief—it breathes life into what remains.
Let me receive joy as a gift from You.
Let me laugh without shame.
Let me rejoice without fear.
You are my comforter and my strength, and today, I receive the joy of the Lord again.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Closing Reflection:
You are not leaving your loved one behind when you laugh.
You are carrying them with you into your healing.
Joy is not betrayal—it’s breakthrough.
Laughter is not forgetting—it’s remembering that you are still alive.
Selah Moment with Dr. Althea Winifred
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