"Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds" James 1:2
He gripped my hand tightly, looked me square in the eye and began to pour his heart out. He was lying there with a new shoulder and a surgically repaired hip. His eyes filled with tears as he shared what God was doing in his heart through the painful experience he was going through. I don't think I will ever forget the conversation or the praise that was on his heart. He had every reason to be upset. Every reason to be mad and complain about the pain and yet he didn't. He simply praised God. His words still echo in my heart, "Thank you God for the love you have shown me through this." Did you catch that? Through this.
The truth is, it is often in the deepest, darkest times of our lives that the love of God is the most real. And sadly, it takes those times to awaken us to the reality of just how much we are loved. Earlier in the conversation my friend had said, "One minute life was normal and the next I was practically an invalid." Our lives can change in a moment. Today you could get a phone call that dramatically alters your life. Happiness could be gone in an instant, but for the believer in Christ - joy can never be taken away.
My friend is a living example of this truth. He has a long journey ahead of him. Weeks of rehab and possible heart surgery await. However, he is joyfully facing the trial and looking in the right direction. He is lifting his eyes up, looking past the current problem and looking to the Father. Perspective changes everything. When we spend our days staring at the problems or situations they get bigger and God gets smaller. But when we are able (in the strength that is given us through Christ) to look up, to see the God that is greater and stronger - we can have joy. We know that no matter what type of day we have had we are loved. As the children's song so loudly proclaims, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
