Present Joy

 "Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials." - James 1:2

Consider it all joy? Yeah, right.

For much of my life I felt this was an impossible command to obey. I remembered some of the trials in my life and wondered how I could ever have found joy in any of them. They were burdensome, painful, and, at the time, seemed to last far longer than I could ever hope to endure.



But they passed. I would nurse my wounds, but I would also relive the tragedies as often as I had opportunity to do so. In effect, I was reliving them and re-exposing myself and others to that history, keeping myself an active participant. Even with events in the past, there was no joy.

Over time, I learned that keeping yourself a victim and slave to your past ensures you will continue to be both victim and slave.

I also discovered there was no place in the Bible that told me it was okay to stay a defeated victim. In fact, it says just the opposite.

At some point I had to forgive myself of living with a crippled will because it wasn't what God wanted for me.


We are to be like like Jesus, Who overcame the world (John 16:33). When we triumph over the obstacles in our lives, we do so through His presence and power in our lives, and we find that we have gained new strength from the effort. We begin to become overcomers.

We also find that the source of strength to be overcomers is the same source that returns to us divine joy - namely the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Nehemiah 8:10 - Then Ezra said to them, “Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.” (AMP)

 Slowly I started to see that staying miserable and keeping myself a victim to my past was my choice alone and I had no one but myself to blame for it. And one day I read a passage I'd read hundred times before, except this time, I heard it, perhaps for the very first time.

John 15:1-11 - “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

 Staying with someone who completely knows you, completely gets you, and still loves you is about as awesome as it can get. That's God for you. Jesus forgave us all our creepy stuff and sin because He loves us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a life above sin - a life that's totally devoted to Him because He loves us. And God the Father has made a place for Himself in our hearts, and a place for us in His heart and His home, now calling us His children

because He loves us.

So, if I abide in the love of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, there is heavenly joy within me and surrounding me regardless of what my external circumstances are. Those externals lose their hold on me, because I find that I now live in a greater reality, one that has encompassed me and supersedes any natural circumstance I might perceive. I live in the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13).

In view of this truth, I can indeed consider it all joy when I encounter various trials, because I know that God causes all things - good and bad - to work together for my good (Romans 8:28). In Christ, my joy is indeed full (John 15:11 cf. Psalm 16:11).

When I let go of life as I know it I can then embrace His life as He reveals it.

I'll take that trade!