What causes joy?

1 Peter 4:13 - Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad in His exceeding joy.

Why does the bible frequently speak of finding joy in suffering? Doesn't the writer know that trials are difficult and manytimes cause unbearble heartache?

Well in the verse above, we start to see a glimpse of the plan of God. He wants us to give Him all the glory and praises. You see, when you partake in Christ's sufferings, and pull through the hard times of struggles, God will reveal that He was there all along and you will praise Him. That is His desire, you praising Him. You will be glad in His exceeding joy and will be filled with joy as well.

Long story short, when you suffer, remember Jesus suffering as He died for your sins and give Him praise, which He deserves, and He will bless you with gladness and joy.

Above Reproach

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

The gospel rapper, DA Truth, said it best, "If Heaven's where home is, I guess it's safe to say that God's people are homeless." The point is that we are just temporary residents here on Earth. In the view of eternity, our 78 or so years on this planet is tiny. Dedicate those short years to Jesus.

The passage above mentions that the unbeliever will know that we follow Jesus by the way that we respond to adversity. I think that our response will be righteous, only if we can succeed with the statements above, "keep away from worldly desires", "be careful to live properly". Fight off temptation to be worldly, and the world will see your love for Jesus. The inner battle against temptation will show through to the onlooking world if not controlled, so be above reproach, and reject temptation to sin, and instead of the world seeing a conflicted man, they will see the Glory of Christ.

God is gracious

1 Peter 2:3 If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Over the last several months, I have been given lots of opportunity to lean on God for provisions. It seems like the time of trials is never ending. Through this, I see that the Lord truly is gracious.

Grace is defined by NOT getting what you DO deserve. As a sinner, I really do deserve death and punishment because I have sinned, or done wrong, against the Creator of the universe. That punishment would be just and righteous from God, but He extends grace to us. He doesn't want to see any of us perish (John 3:16).

What I have experienced is a very gracious God who favors me. He has allowed me to be in need, enough need that I come to Him in prayer, but not so much need that I forsake Him and steal for my needs. For about a year now, I have been in a season of dryness but yet the Lord is faithful and gracious and has provided for every financial need that I have had and every spiritual and physical need as well. God is good and the passage at the top from 1 Peter 2:3 is one that I experience daily and give thanks for regularly.

Take a moment and pray that God will show you how He has been gracious to you. I think you'll find that He is working in your life in ways that you cannot even imagine.

Trials into faith

James 1:2-4 Consider it joy my dear bretheren, when you encounter various trials, because the testing of your faith produces endurance and that endurance produces a perfect result.

I memorized this passage at a very young age. As a younger person, trials were little, like figuring out what excuse I wanted to make for not having my homework done on time or not getting my chores done. As I've become older the trials have matured. I've encountered physical, emotional, and spiritual trials now and the Lord is using all of that to perfect me. What is the perfect result? Well it is anything that will bring God the greatest glory.

You see, trials come either from God's hands or through God's hands. What this means is that God is sovereign and in control of all things, including the trials. Our character is shaped through trials because we learn more about ourselves and the world around us and most of the time we look to God more in tough times. He wants us to be leaning on Him, so don't wait for trials, to get good at talking to your Lord.

Another thing that I have learned from trials is that they keep coming. I thank God for leading me through my current trial and I ask for Him to prepare me for the next one. Instead of kicking my feet up in victory, I have to put the armor back on and look out for more attack. The enemy can see your victory and he attacks even more in your success but just in different ways, and quickly.

Let the trials build your faith in God. Let that strengthened faith produce greater endurance through trials. And build your trust in God as you see Him working on your life through trials. Don't give your joy away to trials but instead rejoice in them because of the supernatural spiritual growth that it produces in you.