Being Joyful In Hope…A Way Of Living

The List Of “Maybes”…
Maybe:
<You are going through a tough time right now.
            <You are just having a bad day.
            <You have been in this dry, barren desert from some time now. 
            <You are on the brink of giving up.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” -Romans 12:12
Here is some encouragement for you today, and let me unpack it for you.

Hope:
Hope isn’t some wish that is granted by rubbing a genie bottle.
Hope is not about “Wishing” my day would get better.
Hope isn’t about dreaming a “better you” either.
Hope isn’t found by fully relying on one’s self.  Hope is provided. It is bestowed upon us.  Hope, like grace is a characteristic of God.  He gave us life, and now He is providing us a way to live it to its fullest.  Faith has a way of stretching us.  It propels us far beyond our comprehension of “what’s possible and available” to us.  Faith, not in ourselves, but in Christ plants the seeds of hope in our heart.  When we have this rootedness in Christ, we will begin to finally see beyond the temporalness of life.  We can begin to see a bigger picture.  We can start to scratch the surface of a hope that comes from God.

Patient in Affliction: 
Joy isn’t about being happy.  Sure, happiness is great…but sometimes it’s a limited time run.
We do go through difficulties in life.
We will not always be happy.
It is a myth that Christians MUST be happy all the time.
How is that even possible?  It would look awfully strange at sad events like funerals to be laughing with happiness in the corner wouldn’t it?
Truths:
We will experience sadness as Christians.
We will endure afflictions too.
Happiness is not the same thing as joy.
Joy, like Hope is provided to us by the source of joy – God himself.
So that despite the situation, both good or bad, we might still retain joy within our souls.

The Heart of the Pondering Today:
I do not know what you are going through today, but I do know that despite the turbulence of life, despite the upheaval that happens from time to time – Hoping in the Almighty provides us joy and endurance through it all.  Can you trust in a God who is overall?  Can you hope in an everlasting joy instead of a temporary fix of happiness?  I’m not saying don’t be happy ever again, but we can tap into something so much more powerful and lasting than short bursts of a disappointing type of instant gratification happiness.

To begin, we have to be willing to let go of the things we cannot control.
It isn’t easy to let go of anything, let a lone a perceived type of control in life, yet, through prayer, through faith we will begin to see a hope that will restore our souls and place us completely submitted to God…in everything, every area of our lives.  This is probably the hardest thing for any of us to do, but when we do let go and when we submit to His purposes for our lives, the dynamic changes and we can experience this  joyfulness in hope.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, I pray for so many today who are experiencing doubt, despair and depression.  I pray for strength in my own life today.  Please provide us endurance as we place our all before you in complete submission.  Teach us what being joyful in hope looks like.  Reveal to us Your joy even in the midst of our dark valleys, Lord.  Be near us, and help us to live this life that you have called us to.  -Amen.

Something more to ponder today.
To God be the glory!