There are some interesting episodes in the Bible where rejoicing takes place in the most difficult of circumstances.  I think of Paul and Silas in prison yet they were singing hymns to God (Acts 16:25) and notably James who said we should consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds (James 1:2).  Paul even said that we should rejoice in the Lord always - and this was said whilst a prisoner!  (Philippians 4:4).  How is this possible?  I remember when I became a Christian about 30 years ago.  My mother and father thought I’d gone mad and my sister wouldn’t even speak to me - I felt like an outcast in my own family!  This indeed filled me with sorrow - yet at the same time I experienced joy.  I wasn’t laughing uncontrollably or going around with a huge grin on my face but deep down inside I felt this joy.  It was joy in the thought that there was a solid foundation in my life, that I knew Jesus as a friend and that one day He was going to make everything right.  There was something to live for, a meaning to life which I hadn’t experienced before.  This has always remained with me so that when trials come along I can see them in their proper perspective - they are simply temporary but Jesus is eternal!  I believe that in order to maintain this joy we always have to focus on the larger perspective, the wider issue - that God is real and He’s coming back to take us home soon!  By the way my sister speaks to me now and my mother doesn’t think I’m so strange after all!