There’s Always Joy (by Susan Boyd)

Voice by Susan Boyd

Image from unbridlingyourbrilliance.com

James 1:2-3 (NRSV)
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Whenever we talk about what gives us joy, trials and tribulations usually don’t make the list.  We talk about things like our family, our home, our jobs, nature, food – all the things that make us happy.  However, tribulations are a part of life and, although none of us are lining up to experience them, God wants us to know that we can turn our sorrow into joy if we ground ourselves in Him.

When I look back, some of the people who have challenged and inspired me over the years are those who have traveled a road with trials and tribulation with the sweetest spirit and a positive attitude.  On June 3, 2003, I received a phone call from my mom to let me know the results of tests she had undergone to determine why she was having issues hearing out of her left ear.  I was not expecting, nor was I in any way prepared to hear the words ‘brain tumor.’  If I had known then that 21 years later I would be fortunate enough to still have her, it definitely would have made things easier.  However, the reality that day was that her prognosis was unknown, and our lives changed forever.

As I watched my mom deal with what came after – more tests, traveling across the state to endure almost 10 hours of surgery, recovering from surgery and then dealing with the challenges associated with having had the tumor popping up throughout the years, in some cases decades later, I am in complete awe of her.  Her first instinct is always to pray, but not necessarily for God to take away the trial or even for herself.  She always prays for her family, for the doctors and nurses, and she will pray for strength.  Her attitude has always been that God’s got it and that everything is happening under his watchful eye and, importantly, she refuses to let it rule her everyday life and cause her to miss out on anything.

Trials and tribulation are a reality of life on earth – that is a fact the none of us can control.  What we can control is how we respond to them.  In 2 Corinthians, Paul did not allow his circumstances to determine his attitude.  Instead, his attitude governed his response to his circumstances.  He was able to do this by staying grounded in God’s love and discipline; otherwise, he would have tried to respond to his circumstances in his own strength and failed.  How many times do we allow our circumstances to overwhelm us?  Only through God’s strength can we maintain the kind of attitude Paul (and my mom) did.

This day:  When we pray, do we ask for trials to be removed or the strength to bear them?  The answer to that can tell us about the attitude inside of us waiting to respond to the next trial.  What challenges are you going through today that God can use to bring joy to you and the world around you?