Hope for Joy

The Hope of Joy

The day started off great! I woke up to wonderful news that clearly attested to the way God showed himself as Jehovah Jireh (The LORD will provide- Gen. 22:13-14) in my life. I was on cloud 9. I mean, after trying to make ends meet for weeks (broke college students, you know what I’m saying) without asking my family for help (I wanted to be independent…God-dependent), God showed me that there was nothing impossible for Him! I was suuuuper happy. NOTHING could remove that smile from my face.

Then it happened.

The Black Bean Burger.

I was cooking my dinner- spinach and black bean burger, that I made (yum). *No, I’m not vegetarian, I was just trying to be for that week.* Anyways, I cooked the spinach and was heating up the burger in the microwave when I got a phone call. To make a long story short, let’s just say I almost burned down the house. The house smelled like complete smoke, and I was utterly embarrassed! Strike #1. A little damper in my day. No biggie right?

Anyways, since half my dinner got burnt up, I decided to head to a restaurant with some friends of mine to get…Buffalo Chicken wings (there goes the vegetarian thing). Buffalo Chicken wings happen to be one of my favorite things to eat. Soo yummy and delicious. I guzzle down the wings and I headed back home. In order to avoid being in a house that smelled completely like smoke, I decided to go to the circus with my friends. By  the time we reached the circus, I had the WORST stomach pain of my entire life. I mean seriously. I couldn’t walk standing upright because the pain was so excruciating. Strike #2. By this point all the happy bliss I was feeling in the morning had surely worn off.

The pain persisted, and as much as I hated being a downer, I had my friend take me home. In the midst of all the pain I lost track of my  cell phone and I didn’t know where to find it.  Strike #3

The next day I woke up in a mood completely opposite to the one I woke up with the previous morning. I was sad. I was so very very sad. The deep down kind of sad that you don’t really show, but you feel it all the way. I wondered “how could my emotion change so quickly in one day? From really happy to really sad?”

I started to talk to God, and really wanted to ask Him, why my day had taken such a turn for the worst. It didn’t take too long for Him to answer me. Joy. J O Y. Three simple letters that they make us sing about in Sunday School as kids, hold such huge implications for our walk with Christ.

Something that I am constantly reminded of, is the fact that  being a follower of Christ doesn’t make me immune to bad days, situations, and circumstances. I’ve known people who truly love the LORD who have unexpectedly lost their spouse, who have been out of a job for extended periods of time, who have been told that they have a life threatening illness, and who are battling to keep their marriage in tact. Do I expect to see these people dancing in circles and giggling up a storm? Of course not. Do I expect to see these people shed tears of sadness? Definitely.

Psalm 30:5 says “ For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy cometh in the morning.”

As Christians there is always a hope of Joy. Always. Joy in the Gospel, the GOOD NEWS. Paul sums up the Gospel in Romans 5:6-11  “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” There is ALWAYS joy in that Good News.
   
God wants to be our source of joy. He wants to be our hope of joy. The Holy Spirit produces that joy in our life. The kind of joy that knows that even when all else fails, one thing remains--the love that Christ has for us. Nothing can separate us from that love. That gives me joy.

This is something I’ll constantly have to remind myself throughout life.

In regards to my original story-the smoke scent ended up going away, I ended up feeling better, and my cell phone was returned to me. By the time this all happened though, I had purposed in my heart, and reminded myself that hope of joy came from God Himself.

I’ll end with these 2 verses:
John 16:33
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

                                                                                                               Continually Waiting,
                                                                                                                                 Diana