Joy in the Sorrow

By Sara J. Hoffman

When Matthew Calmes was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of twenty-six in 2006, his world, and that of his family, was turned upside down. In Joy in the Sorrow, author Sara J. Hoffman, Matt’s sister, shares his story and how his journey helped strengthen her relationship with Christ and define the purpose for her life.

She tells how through prayer and a relationship with God, we can use Satan’s tactics for God’s good. Hoffman shares her testimony of the beautiful tapestry God created throughout Matt’s journey with brain cancer and afterward. She shows how God uses people, nature, and signs to give hope, comfort, and joy in the midst of sorrow.

Joy in the Sorrow exemplifies how we are all interconnected in this earth journey and made by God for God and his higher plans and purposes. It’s a story that offers believers and unbelievers hope during their trials and sufferings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664207080

Sara J. Hoffman

Sara J. Hoffman grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a business degree. She is a stay-at-home mom who worked part time from home for Sales Driven Services. A Christian, she’s participated in Bible Study Fellowship for the past eight years, as well as other Bible studies that have grown her faith. Hoffman and her husband, Kris, have three children and live in Michigan. This is her first book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Sara J. Hoffman.

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and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living

Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale

House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0707-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0708-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020918717

WestBow Press rev. date:  10/29/2020

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1

2

3

4

5

6

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10

Preface

The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

—Psalm 32:8

We must simply show up and be open to divine guidance, and it will always be there. I submit my will to God’s to write this book. This is God’s specific assignment and calling for me. We are blessed with the supernatural joy of following God. If we take the leap of faith in following what he is asking us to do, he will take care of the details and equip us with the resources we need to fulfill his purpose through us. British evangelist and author Smith Wigglesworth wrote, God does not call those who are equipped; he equips those whom he has called.

Mark Twain said, The two greatest days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. Success has to do with obedience to God and doing things his way. God is sovereign and has power and all authority over all his creations to fulfill his will.

Faith is not about everything turning out okay; it is about being okay no matter how things turn out. Having faith, hope, and determination doesn’t take away the feeling involved. Be kind to yourselves with whatever battles you are facing. Deep faith doesn’t look picture-perfect. It is not simply sitting pretty in precarious situations, unfazed by it all. Instead, it is messy and sweaty and full of tears.

Faith is desperately grabbing on to God’s hand while hanging off the edge of the cliff. It is feeling yourself slip but trusting that even if you fall, he will catch you. Faith is believing that the mountain you are hanging from, the ground hundreds of feet below, is actually a sturdy and stable stepping stone purposely placed there to draw you closer to the presence of God.

Faith brings hope in the aftermath, joy in the sorrow, steady in the chaos. All these and more are