By Adrienne Wright-Mullings
James 1:2-3
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you now that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Packages arrive at our homes or someone gives us a gift and we don’t know what it is and we accept it without hesitation. We are actually excited filled with anticipation of what it could be… but when life hands the unwrapped packages of hurt, shame, disappointments, frustrations, relationship issues, health scares, job loss, sick parents, children who are challenged, predicaments, trials and tribulations we fail to see it has God providing the opportunity to draw us closer and pray that he will reveal to us how to unwrap this package. Instead we immediately pause and focus on the problem and make it bigger than our God and begin to ask God why? We see it as a burden …I share with you today that on May 9 of 2018 my dad had a medical emergency that change the fabric of my family’s lives. In the words of James 1:2-3, it states consider or count it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you are faced with trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
A year later and the joy I share with my sister in caring for my dad is beyond any package I could ever send or receive. We now have an opportunity to provide attention for my dad that he would have never asked for and the opportunity is there for us to pray with him and spend quality time with him. I do count it all joy and the Joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
So my sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Inc. and my Sisters in Christ I ask you today to unwrap your life experiences in the word of God and in prayer. Submit to the Spirit of Joy and allow God to amaze you with the ability to be able to love, be at peace, be gentle, be faithful, be patient, be kind, and be able to do it while exhibiting self-control.
When you do it With the mindset of Christ it shows you how to communicate better, make wise decisions, love unconditionally and most of all unwrap life’s challenges all to the glory of God.
Perseverance is a quality that God desires us to have because it is one way we can develop a more intimate relationship with Him. Because when we have trials and tribulations if we have the mind of Christ we can rely on Him and have a joyful spirit while we go through it. We are modeling for other believers and non-believers.
So remember the next time you receive a life package handle it with JOY: Jesus first, Others second and You last. My sisters may you be encouraged today to live life In the joy of the Lord.
Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share the joy with all you meet. – Author Mother Teresa
Joy is not necessarily the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God. – Author Sam Storms
Scripture References:
Jame 1:2-3
Nehemiah 8:10
Philippians 4:4
Psalm 28:7
Romans 15:13
Job 8:31
Isaiah 61:10
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