Enduring Joy

The other day, I had one of “those” days. You know the ones, you’re already not feeling well, and everyone around you seems to be out to make you feel worse. Hubby was short-tempered, kids were fighting, baby was teething…blah blah blah. I had just about reached the point where I questioned the sanity of getting married and having three kids, when I looked over at my cranky little boy. He gazed up at me with wide eyes. “Ma-ma.” Of course, my heart melted. I felt a smile twitching at the corner of my lips. “Ma-ma-ma-ma.” He reached his arms up to me. My eyes filled with tears. Tears of joy. This is what life is all about.

Being a joyful person, like being a Christian, does not mean you won’t have bad days or go through rough times. It’s the way you approach those circumstances, how you choose to respond that reflects that joy.

Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy. Psalm 126:5

We are not promised an easy life. Quite the contrary, in the New Testament, Jesus assures us that we will face trials. It is how we respond that sets us apart.

The most basic of responses is to realize that we are not made for this world. Earth is a temporary layover—our joy lies in a higher place. So, no matter the troubles we find in our mortal life, we can rejoice because our eternity is made for Heaven.

Another way of thinking of it is reminiscent of the “Footprints” poem. God is with us always, even when we can’t feel Him. He carries us through the hard times. We need to put our full trust in Him so that He can give us that peace to get us through whatever troubles cause us to weep.

As I proclaimed on Monday, joy is in the doing. So to maintain joy while we face trouble, we can’t sit and dwell. Focusing in a destructive manner will only garner more negative feelings. So, get up and tell yourself that you will not let this situation defeat you. You will overcome it by stepping out in the joy you own, taking steps to face/endure/resolve it with God’s guidance.

The same goes when you see another woman in distress. We all know how hard it is to go through something awful alone. Why would we want that for someone else? Prayerfully reach out to her in a way that will edify her and bring her out of the slump she’s in. Sometimes that may mean just sitting with her, no words, no advice—just companionable silence that says “I’m here”.

Life doesn’t come with a guarantee, but our redemption comes with joy unyielding. When we know who we are, what God wants for us, we can make it through any storm the winds of change bring our way. “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:13

Love and Fruit

The first Fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is a complex word. It is a characteristic, an emotion, a choice.

So, what to write about?

In my research on love, it made perfect sense to refer to one of my favorite chapters in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13. You can read familiar verses over and over again, and one day reading over them just like every other time, you read something totally different. You have an epiphany, an understanding. My mind is a whirl of new understanding for this entire chapter. I’d like to share a small part of this revelation with you today.

Take a look at 1 Cor 13:4-7:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

It’s all very familiar, right?

Now, check out Galatians 5:22-23, our Fruit of the Spirit verse:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

And look what happens when I combine the two:

“Love is patient (patience), love is kind (kindness). It does not envy (goodness), it does not boast, it is not proud (gentleness). It is not rude , it is not self-seeking(self-control), it is not easily angered (peace), it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (joy). It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (faithfulness).” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Did you just get shivers? Yeah, me too.

Love is the basis for everything. It molds how we interact, the choices we make, who we are. It is the root of everything in this life…and in the next. John 3:16 (yet another all too familiar verse) tells us how God so LOVED the world. Love is how God makes His decisions concerning us.

When we love the Lord and His people—Christians or not—with the kind of love described in 1 Cor 13, all the fruit of the Spirit are cultivated. All of the fruit grow just a bit more. This is why love is the most important, why it is the main theme of the Bible. God’s love for us, and our love for Him, as well as those around us.

So, take some time to think about the people in your life—your family, friends, neighbors, even the postman—what are you doing to show them love?

In other news, we chose the winner for Pamela Sonnenmoser's "Praise and Paraphrase"!

Congratulations, Bonnie!

Send your address to Kimchi at kimchilya4@yahoo.com.

Later this week, we'll be hosting our first contest. Stay tuned for more information!