Joyful

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

Each day, in everyone’s life, there are issues that cause concern and also reasons for us to be joyful. We will each experience those days when we wake up to a problem and go back to bed at night with the same problem on our mind. However, if we look closely and take our mind away from our problems, we will notice the many joys that are also included in each day. The problem is that we, as humans, lose our focus on the joy because of the nagging pull of concern. The verse from Romans 12 reminds us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. In this verse we are not told to be joyful only when life is going our way, to be patient only when waiting for a blessing, or to pray only when faced with a problem. I believe the words joyful, hope, patience, faithful, and prayer are all included in this short verse because God knows we will need each of these to get through a day. We will hope for a particular solution to a problem but should be joyful as we wait. We will face issues that will test our patience with a friend or loved one. And each day requires us to be faithful in prayer. Our days can often be a roller coaster of emotions, drama, problems, and worries but each day also has it’s reason for joy.

I often forget to look or fail to notice the reasons for joy in each of my days. I let frustration with something that is actually very small prevent me from seeing the joy that is all around. God creates the joyous events that happen in our lives to remind us that He is in control regardless of the day’s events or our mood. When we open our eyes and hearts we will see, even on the most frustrating days, the joy that helps us deal with the difficulties in a way that is pleasing to God. After all, He never promises us a life free from hardship and worry. But, He is always faithful to provide the reasons for joy as we deal with all the problems of life in a broken world.

Chad