"Consider it pure JOY, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds..." (James 1:2)
"REJOICE always" (I Thessalonians 5:16)
"Be JOYFUL in hope, patient in affliction" (Romans 12:12)
Hmm,
there is a theme here
that will always be a theme here on earth,
because GOD told us that
when things aren't the way we want them to be,
JOY is possible in the midst
"because
you know that
the testing of your faith produces
PERSEVERANCE" (James 1:3)
as you
"PRAY continually,
give THANKS in all circumstances" (I Thessalonians 5:17-18)
and
as you are
"PERSISTENT in PRAYER" (Romans 12:12).
It sounds like a lot of
PERSEVERING PERSISTENT work
for JOY to overtake you,
but what is the alternative~
to be joyless & hopeless & impatient
&
not communicating with the
ONE who asks you to
Be JOYFUL always
& to
Be HOPEFUL
because you
PRAY
to the ONE
who is your
JOY & HOPE..
Oh how it is possible to be so consumed with
HIS JOY & HIS HOPE
because
PERSEVERANCE & PERSISTENCE
IN HIM
always finishes the race,
as your eyes are
fixed beyond what your eyes can see
in the here & now,
because you know that
one day that
being JOYFUL in trials
&
REJOICING in all circumstances
&
PATIENCE in affliction
will not require
PERSEVERING PERSISTENCE.
All because
one day
there will be
no trials
no tears
no fears
no sorrows~
"For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.
Yet they produce for us a glory
that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!..."(2 Corinthians 4:17)
Oh GLORY DAY!
For that is why
" we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are unseen;
for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting],
but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable"
Are you in the midst of a TRIAL?
Are you in the midst of a not so good CIRCUMSTANCE?
Are you in the midst of an AFFLICTION?
Oh I can answer YES!
And it is not fun.
But oh how
JOY BLOOMS
in the darkest spaces and places
when I remain
and when you remain
PLANTED IN CHRIST
for
HE IS THE JOY
that transcends all understanding
in the here & now
no matter what your here & now is.
Therefore,
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer"
and
BLOOM JOY WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED
because it is worth the trip,
because
"THERE WILL BE A DAY"
(listen to the song below)