“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) The book of James opens up with these lines, guiding us in how to handle the trials of life. But looking beyond the trials, we can have joy in all circumstances. We can have this joy because we know God is faithful and gives grace. God is all good and wants that good for us, showering us with his love and comfort. We know this because He gave us His son to save us from ourselves, offering a way for us to return our hearts to Him.
I say return because like all things, our hearts our His. Sometimes, I say a simple prayer, “Everything I have and everything I am comes from You. Without You, I am nothing. But with You, I am everything.” It’s a prayer of admittance and humility. We admit we would not be who we are and where we are without God. We acknowledge the blessings we have come from Him. So if our hearts are not with God, where are they? The world. Our hearts are often in the world, bending to current events, issues, worries, fears, frustrations, etc. We have no security when our hearts are in the world. To have security, things can’t change and the one thing that never changes is God.
I often fall prey to this affliction, placing my trust, ie my faith, in my circumstances and my world. I seek after worldly things and let the world stress me, envelop me, and deceive me. This all comes from the Father of Lies, because he wants to turn our hearts from God. His only job is to impede our relationship with God. To take that joy that is rightfully ours. He doesn’t want us to believe that prayer, that things come from the world and not from God. This is represented when Jesus was tempted with turning stone to bread, symbolic of the material world and all is falsehood. Instead, lets choose joy.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) God offers us peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding if we believe and follow Him. If we follow the world, we will not have that joy. Keep your eyes fixed on Him, the ONLY one that can satisfy.
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