Is there a difference between a joy and a trial? James 1 tells us to consider a trial a joy. I know, I know, what could be joyful about a trial.
Well, our lives are meant to bring glory to God. Trials tend to produce one of two different responses: anger or joy. Anger can turn into bitterness and kill us from the inside out. Joy brings about peace beyond our understanding, because our joy comes from the Lord. To be honest, anger tends to be the easiest response because we do it naturally. Joy is a supernatural response (Galatians 5). Our daily life this past week has been a trial. Our well that supplies water to our house has been "down." As a family, we have had to learn to be flexible and appreciate the modern conveniences that we can so easily take for granted. Well, we did not know what it was going to take to fix it. Diagnoses over the phone led us to believe that it was the submerged pump motor. After having someone come out, it was confirmed that was what it was. During this time, we were given a "ballpark" figure of what it would take to get it fixed. Needless to say, we had not saved up monies for this emergency. So, we prayed, our family prayed, our extended family prayed, as well as others. "God showed up, and showed off!" Within 2 days, God provided exactly what we needed!!! There was no other thing we could do but give God the praise! He provided $1575 in that short amount of time through a variety of miraculous ways exactly what the bill ended up being! We continue to give God the glory!!! Please feel free to join in. During this time, we have been going through other trials that have not ended up as glorious as we would like. But as we have seen through the miracle of the well, it's not WHAT we get out of the trial, but HOW we respond. That is the distinction between happiness and joy. As a former pastor said one time, "You are either getting ready to go into a trial, coming out of one, or in the midst of one; how will you respond?" The trials we face should only continue to point our faces to our Father in utter dependence on Him. Amen
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AuthorDennis Runner- a witness, a follower, a student, and a lump of clay in the hands of my God and Savior. Archives
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