Joy?!?

For a long time, I was really irritated with James {as in New Testament James} and his “count it all joy” to be found in James 1:2.

Life with a chronic illness is hard.

Some days, joy feels so unattainable.

Trade places with me and let’s see how long you talk about joy.

Each day when I wake up, my body feels miserable. I feel weak and tired. It is hard to move, hard to wake up, hard to go about my simple, daily life. If it were up to me, I would choose not to be chronically ill. But that is not the life God has given me, so I surrender my desires, and I accept His plan for my life.  {still a work in progress}

When we trust that each moment in our life has purpose and can cause us to grow, we have a reason to “count it all joy” in every circumstance.

When things don’t go as planned….. we can count it as joy.

In the middle of a crisis….. we can count it as joy.

If we feel discouraged, anxious or depressed….. we can still count it as joy.

When the prognosis is bleak or we are in physical pain….. we can count it as joy.

In our times of deepest loss, grief or loneliness….. we can count it as joy.

When we feel afraid or like we don’t have what it takes….. we can count it as joy.

Whatever life throws at us, whether it seems big or small, we can count it as joy because we have hope. 

Finding the joy in trials can be hard, can’t it?

And yet, God promises to never leave us, who walks with us or carries us through every trial and joy, and who has given his very life for us.

Life is good.  Not perfect.  But it is good.

Joy is there to be found in the hard days, the stuck-in-bed days, the pain-filled days, and the lonely days.

Perhaps JOY is my 2017 word?

Take Care