Joy: The Secret Weapon

“Count it all joy when you meet trials…” James 1:2

Brother James, what are you thinking?

I don’t know about you, but when I am in a trial, joy is not my natural inclination. Instead, I respond like a toddler who has no intention of taking a nap or eating my vegetables, kicking and whining, “No trial! No trial!”, in hopes that my heavenly Father will change His mind about the testing of my faith. And just as a loving parent persists, knowing that a child needs rest or nutrients for her physical well-being, our loving Abba knows that we too need various trials for our spiritual well-being.

Each one of us has trials in our lives—you cannot be human in our fallen world and not experience pain and suffering. Standing in the line at the grocery store with your impatient entourage can be a trial, especially if one is bawling at the top of his or her lungs (we’ve all been there!). Other trials are more painful to walk through. Betrayal. Illness. Death. Regardless of the trial itself, be it ‘big’ or ‘small,’ we are to consider it joy. How do we do that? Well, what does God’s Word say? The testing of our faith produces steadfastness, commitment, dedication, determination, faithfulness, loyalty, perseverance, persistence, resoluteness, and a stubborn, white-knuckled grip on our hope in Christ.

Mama, we need to take the microscope off of our situation and circumstance and zoom out for a heavenly perspective. God doesn’t say that the pain is good, but the growth resulting from the pain certainly is, which is why we should rejoice. My friend, God does not cause pain in our lives; let’s be very clear on that. But He will use pain to draw us toward Him and mature us into the people He has called us to be.  This is where we find our joy–changing our earthly mindset into a heavenly one. Turning “God, why did you allow this to happen” to “God, I don’t know why this is happening, but I trust that You are at work in my life.”

Now, we must be aware that the enemy of our soul, who never blinks but is ever-watchful, will also use the pain in our lives. He will use our trials in an attempt to plant seeds of distraction, distrust, and distance from our Creator. It is a spiritual tug-of-war between life and death, and when we obstinately cling to joy in our trial, proclaiming the promises of God with thanksgiving, we are strengthened as we triumph over darkness. “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b). I don’t know about you, but when I am in a trial, I want joy to be my natural inclination. I want to wield this secret weapon against the enemy and triumph during my trials!

 

Love, Bek Measmer & The Help Club Team

Let’s Pray Together-

Jesus we trust You and gladly surrender our need for control.  Give us eyes to see our situations through a heavenly perspective.  Help us to guard our thoughts so we can be effective at wielding Joy as a secret weapon.  Remind us to cling to You in trial, proclaiming your faithfulness for our very strength.  In Jesus name, Amen. 

Bek Measmer

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