Great joy
Tuesday, January 5
Great joy
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. James 1:2
As we enter into the first week of 2021 do you find yourself saying, “Thank goodness 2020 is over!”? It was a year of grief and loss for so many, and a year of fear, exclusion and isolation for most, if not all, of us. As we look back over this year, it will be with different thoughts and memories, as any other year of our lives, but may be not for the better. Whatever it was for you, scripture tell us to consider it all joy. I wonder how many of us can reach the end of 2020 and genuinely consider the past nine months with great joy as this scripture suggests we should.
While it may be counterintuitive to do so when we think of the suffering, the frustration, and the loss of friends and family, businesses, friendships and church fellowship that we have endured. God says to consider it joyful because we know that God can take all things and make them good (Romans 8:28).
It is the next two verses which help us understand just how we can consider such trials as something we can take joy in. ‘For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing’ (James 1:3-4).
The key word here is joy. How do we find joy? We consider all things an opportunity to showcase God. As with every opportunity in our lives, we have to actively take up that opportunity and be willing to engage in the excitement of it.
And so it is with the opportunity to consider our trials as joy. Consider 2020 with joy. We must engage with the Lord in what He is offering us. It is the chance to grow and develop in our relationship with Him, and discover true inner peace and security, despite the storm raging around us.
This year consider if you have grown in strength during this time of enduring the troubles. If so, count it a joy! If not, it may time to ask the Lord to help you grow in the trials of life, not succumb to them. Ask the Lord to open your eyes so that you can see His providential care in your life. It isn’t easy, it isn’t nice, but it is a place of growth, and spiritual growth should surely be one of our goals for a brighter 2021, regardless of the challenges it may bring.
Prayer for today: Dear Lord, in all honesty 2020 was not been a good year. But instead of casting the year away, I thank you for the strength you’ve given me to ride out the storm. I count it joy that I still have a smile. There are so many feelings of loss, pain, frustration and loneliness. But I count it all joy that I can still find courage in reading God’s Word. As I look ahead to a new year, I commit to seizing the opportunity to consider trials a joy as I grow in my relationship with You. Amen.