I read Faye's last blog about Joy and it also got me thinking about it. In Sunday school this week we touched on the passage in James 1, which says
"
count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing." I find it interesting that he says to have joy and then goes right in to having patience, like they work together to produce it. My teacher, Lyn, also made the point that patience produces wisdom, and wisdom in what ever happens, will bring joy. Not jumping up and down, like "YAYAYAY I'm having trials!" But the quiet knowledge that after the trials comes joy beyond imagining. Not giving over to despair when trials come, but taking them with quiet acceptance that the Lord is letting them happen. It struck me when listening to a presentation about Job, when he cried out to God asking why, why did all his troubles happen? Why were his children, servants and livelihood taken away from him? Why was he covered in sores and his friends and wife constantly pressing him to confess his sin? And God simply answered those questions with questions. Job 38:4-9 "
Where were you when I layed the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined it's measurements? surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were it's foundations fastened? or layed it's cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the whom." That is how we're supposed to be in trials, joyful with the understanding that we might not know
why we're suffering, but are we supposed to? Maybe if we'd done just
one of the things that God has done, or were there when he made the heavens. But what gives us the right to actually question what God has in store? Yes, we do, and God welcomes our questions because it draws us closer to him, as it did Job. But when people are suffering little things, maybe we should look at the big picture, and realize that although we sometimes equate our tiny suffering with what Job suffered, we fail to remember those that are suffering much more for what we have taken for granted. The right to have our faith freely expressed, and although I know that this has been done to death, it shames me, even to think about what I considered extremely harsh suffering, is nothing to what other girls, my age are willfully suffering for in sooo many other places. I wonder what would happen if I was put through, what Job was put through. Would I curse God and die, or would I refuse to scream and curse at God, and put up with the constant hammering of my "friends" to confess my sin? I don't know.
On that note, I will say, I started talking about Joy and ended up on a completely different topic, so sorry if anyone got completely confused, but anyways. I've got to get to work. God Bless, and Love ya'll!!
