Are you leaping for joy?

Consider it pure joy my brothers,whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance.

How many of us head into our trials full of joy? Uh, how about almost none of us.
Sounds a little crazy,
Oh yippee here comes some horrible trial, I'm so happy and full of joy! Our friends would take us on a little road trip to the psych ward don't you think? But thats what the Lord wants us to have when we are facing trials.Sounds a little far fetched,a little unattainable.But yes, its true,we can have joy in the midst of some pretty tough times.

A few months ago I was sharing with a friend some of the things I had been thru in my life.Im 45 so thats quite an accumulation of stuff, you can pack a lot of trials,wrong choices,big mistakes and some nail biting,heartbreaking twists and turns in 45 years of living.Some things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy( I don't have any at the moment) but if it did,I wouldn't wish any of it on them.

As I spoke i realized I had never heard all of them kind of lumped together ,I thought Oh good grief how in the world did I live thru all of that? Then I thought,If I had been able to for see my future years ago,would I have wanted this life,or would I have chosen a different one? While a different life might have been easier and more pleasant,I would in fact have become a different person.
I realized then that even though the road I had traveled was not fun at times, and that I would emerge from it with some regrets, some scars,I would grow weary at times, shed many a tear but thru it all I would emerge a little stronger, a little wiser with more compassion and a stronger faith.Then yes, i would do it again.

Am i leaping for joy when a new trial comes my way? Sadly i'm not there yet, but the one thing I do know is.That we are never alone while we are going through it.Don't ever think that he is not with you..He longs to take you to a place of comfort ,peace and victory.Even when you cannot see him he is working on your behalf.Trust him.

So remember when your next trial arrives, consider it pure joy
blessings
Dee