Today’s Encouragement is James 1:2 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
Great Joy –
For context, consider this from Isaiah 55:9 NLT “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – God’s Ways are Not Our Ways!
When we think of an opportunity for great joy… our minds go to an ideal vacation spot or a favorite memory. But we certainly don’t consider the troubles and difficulties of our lives as an “opportunity for great joy!”
It seems insensitive, doesn’t it? For anyone to even suggest that my “troubles of any kind’ could be viewed as joyful? The loss of a job, a friend, a spouse, loss of my health, or more commonly, the car won’t start, the refrigerator goes out… the list of our “troubles of any kind” is infinite!
Yet God’s ways are infinitely higher than our ways, our thoughts, and our perspectives. All these troubles we face, great or small, are opportunities for great joy!
Utterly contrary to our human thinking, our logic… God’s ways are not our ways…
So, it is our choice. We are not required to, but we can choose to… consider it. Is it possible that… this trouble I’m facing (and aren’t we all and always facing some trouble?) is an opportunity for… (hard to say it…) Great Joy!?!?
God’s way says, “Yes!”
Father God, Your Truth is sometimes very difficult to accept! Yet because we trust You and believe You, we must acknowledge that Your way is always best; Your wisdom is always perfect!
Perfect wisdom of our God
Keith and Kristyn Getty
Today’s Encouragement 