To Weep, Laugh, Mourn and Dance: A Daily Meditation

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God created us with the capacity to experience a broad spectrum of emotions, and He desires to share these moments with us. While society might train us to suppress our feelings, God encourages us to acknowledge them. It’s important to remember that feeling and admitting our emotions is vastly different from being controlled by them. God walks with us through these varied emotional landscapes, offering His steadfast support and guidance. Whether we weep, laugh, mourn or dance, God stays by our side. He, in fact, knows there is a time for all these feelings. 

Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us: 

“[There is] a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”  

Ecclesiastes 3:4, English Standard Version

These words, often attributed to Solomon, remind us that life encompasses a wide range of emotions, each with its own season. Children are often our best teachers in this, demonstrating with their openness and enthusiasm a readiness to express what they feel. Their unrestricted emotions invite us to share in their world, but as we grow older, expressing emotions freely can become more challenging. 

Navigating our emotions can be complex, and everyone develops unique coping mechanisms. These can range from confiding in a trusted friend to identifying and addressing harmful coping habits. It’s crucial to strike a balance between managing our emotions and not allowing them to dominate our lives. Even beneficial activities, like work or celebrating a child’s achievements, can become unhealthy if they become all-consuming.  

God doesn’t want us to feel less; He wants to help us honour Him through our emotions. In ancient Israel, people openly celebrated God’s works and visibly mourned their losses. Such rituals signified the importance of expressing one’s emotional state. While it’s necessary to control our emotions in certain situations, it’s equally essential to recognize that God calls us to rejoice and to grieve when appropriate. 

Bring all your feelings, whether it’s weeping, laughing, mourning or dancing, to God. He will help you process them and guide you through this emotional journey. 

Father, thank You. You have made a world so full of wonder that it delights and surprises me so often. Help me to lean into and understand my emotions. Remind me to bring them to You. You are the safest way to explore and process my feelings, and I’m so grateful that You care about me enough to walk through that. In Your Son’s name, I pray. Amen. 

Listen now to the short version of this Abide meditation, “To Weep, Laugh, Mourn and Dance,” based on Ecclesiastes 3:4. Let God speak to your heart about your emotions.

Let Abide be your daily companion as you learn what God feels when you weep, laugh, mourn or dance. Our 1500+ biblical meditations all exist to help you know God better. Download the app and start a premium subscription. This will gain you access to our entire library of content. Use this link for 25% off.