Well, many people believe that joy must wait until the suffering ends.

But the Bible tells a different story.

In this episode, we look at Paul, the Saints, and God's surprising promise to us that joy can exist even inside an aching heart.

Today on Ask Pastor John, don't wait for the pain to stop.

The question is from an anonymous woman. Pastor John, hi, I'm writing you from Indonesia.

Your ministry has been a huge blessing to me over the past seven years.

After waiting 10 years for a child, my husband and I were overjoyed when I became pregnant late last year.

But at the same time, I discovered a lump in my breast. At 11 weeks, our joy turned to sorrow when we learned our baby no longer had a heartbeat and I had to undergo a DNC procedure.

Just one week after losing our long-awaited child,

we received the devastating news that the lump was stage two breast cancer.

I have just had surgery and I'm now facing this new battle and my heart is overwhelmed. I often wake up in the morning

consumed by anxiety. My questions for you are, how can I possibly have a heart full of joy and

peace during such profound loss and fear? How can I continue to believe that God is good and that I will see

brighter days again.

Perhaps I could share a couple of means by which God has kept me from the paralyzing discouragement or bitterness over various disappointments and afflictions and sufferings in my own life over the past

80 years. One is that he has taught me from experience and from the Bible that the presence

of great sorrow and great grief in my heart does not mean that there cannot be great joy and

peace at the same time in the same aching heart. That seems strange, seems contradictory, seems paradoxical, but it has been so important

to learn. I got the impression in listening to our friend's question that maybe she has not yet

learned this wonderful truth. I don't know, but maybe not. She said she doesn't see how joy and

peace can be in her heart during such profound grief and loss. So it seems like she has the sense

that as long as she feels profound loss, profound sorrow, profound grief,

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