{"id":5380,"date":"2020-04-05T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5380"},"modified":"2020-04-09T19:04:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:04:58","slug":"joy-during-the-bad-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5380","title":{"rendered":"Joy During the Bad Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my\nheart smile\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It may seem incongruous, but Christians can have joy even when they are going through trials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy expresses itself in different ways and when things aren\u2019t going well, there is a kind of joy expressed through inner peace and calm assurance in God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\nnever promised the Christian life would be free of trials, hardships,\ntemptations, sorrow, or suffering. In fact, we are told to expect such things (1\nPeter 4:12). Yet we are always surprised when they happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oswald\nChambers said, \u201cThe typical view of the Christian life is that it means being\ndelivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in\nadversity, which is something quite different\u2026 If you are a child of God, you\nwill certainly meet with adversities, but Jesus says you should not be\nsurprised when they come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When bad things happen, we aren\u2019t expected to put on a happy face and act like all is well. It\u2019s okay to be upset, hurt, or angry. It\u2019s okay to cry and grieve. After all, even Jesus had moments when He wept over Jerusalem, wept over Lazarus, and sweated drops of blood. There is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 1:1-8). However, we can\u2019t stay there. We have to move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are times when we just don\u2019t feel like smiling, but that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have this inner calm kind of joy that comes to us from God. This joy manifests itself through our belief that God loves us and is at work in our lives. It\u2019s the assurance that He will be there no matter what. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul\ntells us to always rejoice (Philippians 4:4). Always means always\u2014in the good\ntimes and bad. Then he says, \u201cDo not be anxious about anything, but in everything\nby prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God\u201d\n(Philippians 4:6). Paul is telling us not to let things that might make us\nanxious or fearful take us away from God. Don\u2019t let those things steal our joy\nbut continue doing the things we know we should do like drawing close to God\nthrough prayer and thanksgiving. In other words, God will take care of it. He\nmight not take care of it the way we want, but we can trust Him.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is joy that comes from having\na relationship with God. We can have happiness without spiritual development,\nbut we can\u2019t have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It comes as a result\nof complete trust in God and a deep desire for His will to be done, no matter\nwhat the cost might be to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was not happy on the cross, but He endured it for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). This kind of joy comes from wanting God\u2019s will more than our own. And with this, we realize God can take anything that happens to us and let it be used in some way to benefit others and for His glory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8:28 says, \u201cAnd we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.\u201d This is not saying everything that happens to us will make us happy. But it is saying God can take anything that happens to us and use it for good in some way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When James 1:2 says, \u201cConsider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds\u2026,\u201d I don\u2019t think it is telling us to rejoice because we have a trial. None of us say, \u201cOh yea! I just lost my job!\u201d James is merely pointing out that we can have joy in the midst of a trial. We aren\u2019t rejoicing because of the trial. We are rejoicing because of God. God is with us. We are not alone. God can and will use a trial to help us and others grow spiritually in areas like endurance, perseverance, character, and spiritual maturity. In other words, if there\u2019s a pony is this \u201cdoo-doo\u201d somewhere, God can help us find it. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve\ncome to see that my joy depends on the indwelling of Jesus Christ in my life,\nnot outward circumstances (John 15:9-11). I don\u2019t rejoice because of my trials, but I do rejoice that God is always\nwith me no matter what happens. During the good times and during the bad times,\nI rejoice in God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\nGod, You are my Savior, my Deliverer, my Shelter, my Comfort, my Rock, my High\nTower! You alone are worthy of my praise. In good times and bad times, let me\nnever forget Your love for me. When I am weak, I need Your strength. When I am\nsad, I need Your comfort. You have never disappointed me and I know You never\nwill. Praise to You, O God most high!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren It may seem incongruous, but Christians can have joy even when they are going through trials. Joy expresses itself in different ways and when things aren\u2019t going … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}