Joy

Joy (noun): a feeling of great pleasure and happiness

Synonyms: delight, rapture, happiness, gladness, exuberance, euphoria

How wonderful it is to have JOY in one's life! It is always my desire to wake up each morning with joy. When the sky is blue and the sun is shining brightly, it's never hard for me to be full of joy each morning, with the very first thoughts being praise and thanks to God for life on such a gorgeous day.

It's easy to be full of joy when my husband kisses me and asks, "How are you Sweet Lady?" It comes naturally to be full of joy when my firstborn son says, "I love you Momma," or when my toddler son hugs my legs or plants a kiss on my lips.

Joy immediately fills my being when my friends tell me how much I mean to them. I can't help but feel joyful whenever I see birds and butterflies visiting my yard or whenever I see squirrels leap from tree to tree in the woods. Joy abounds in my heart when singing a lovely song or reading a good story. I have indescribable joy each time I eat good food.

I love that I'm surrounding by joy-giving blessings from God: family, friends, creatures of the outdoors, good food, good music, good words, the sun and moon and stars, the grass and flowers and trees....too many joyful things to name them all.

I also get joy from being on the giving end. I love the joy I see in my children when I tell them I love them or hug or kiss them or when I give them a gift or teach them something new. I cherish the joy I hear in my husband's voice when he tells me the meal I made is good or that he's glad I'm his wife.

I delight in the joy I give to others by just smiling and talking to them when no one else cares about them. I take great pleasure in the joy I give someone when I help him or her solve a problem or give someone a helping hand. I relish the joy I give to people when they just need someone to listen.

What about the days I wake up, and there is no sun shining in the sky and no blue sky? The nights where I can't see the moon and stars? What about the days my children dishonor and disrespect me? The days when my husband is a grouch? How am I to feel on the days there are no birds or butterflies or flowers? On the days where I burn our food or leave out ingredients or overdose it on ingredients? How am I to react on the days when my friends are not available or they are angry? On the days I am paid back with evil for helping someone? How am I to feel on the days I lose someone dear? On the days we have no money?

My brethren, count it all JOY when ye fall into diverse temptations (various trials); knowing that the trying (testing) of your faith worketh (produces) patience (James 1:2-3).

How are we go count it joy on the days the sun is not shining, on the days when we may wish we were never born? How are we to be happy when our spouse, child, parent, or best friend dies? When we are in danger of losing our home or not having food to eat? How do we cope if one of we ourselves or one of our loved ones is sick and near unto death? When our own flesh and blood family and longest friends turn their backs on us, because we're seen as enemies of the state? Could we "count it all joy" if our spouses and children were murdered before our eyes? If our children were stolen from us by government authorities? What about if we were plastered all over the news as evil and threatening, and the vast majority wanted us dead?

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried (has been proved), he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him (James 1:12).

We must face temptations/trials in this life. God must prove us to see whether we truly love Him. When our faith is tested, patience follows.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:20). True faith is proved by works.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves....but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, bu a doer of the work, this an shall be blessed in his deed (1:22, 25).

Yea, a man may say, Thou has faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works (2:18).

Faith and patience are required to get through trials. Let's read and meditate on the following:

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman (farmer) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receiveth the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy (blesed) which endure. Ye have heard the patience (perseverance) of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord ; that the Lord is very pitiful (compassionate), and of tender mercy (5:7-11).

It truly comes down to FAITH. That is what the book of James is all about. THAT is how we can "count it all joy" when we fall into various trials, no matter how horrible. God is full of love and mercy toward those who love Him. He doesn't let us be afflicted with horrors because he doesn't care. In the beginning, Jesus willingly decided he would come live life enclothed in flesh. He decided ahead of time that he would go through trials and temptation. He decided ahead of time to die a most awful tormenting death. He never sinned, and he agreed to go through those things for us. If we really have faith in eternal life and that we will be a child of the Most High God (praises to you, Beloved Father), if we really believe that Jesus walked a perfect life without sin and shed his blood for wretches like us, then we CAN count it all joy when we have a bad day. We have to CHOOSE to endure. It does NOT come naturally the way joy comes naturally when things are going well. When we are afflicted, joy is NOT a natural feeling, much in the same way love can be a natural feeling or a choice. I don't naturally get joy when someone I love dies or when I'm sick or when I'm about to be put to death by my enemies. I have to CHOOSE the joy, KNOWING (faith) that I have endured and will be blessed. That I will receive a crown of life. That my troubles will soon be over. That everything in this life is temporary (time, temperature, etc., all from the same root word). The pain and suffering only last so long.

The way to count it all joy in times of deep trial and suffering is to choose to be joyful by keeping your mind on your faith that all will be well when it matters--in the age to come and in eternity.