Tuesday, July 22

Personal: It's a big enough umbrella...


Yesterday, I reflected on what it is to have hope despite being walled in by razorwire fences.

Today's image (a dancer in the rain) has got me thinking about what it is to have joy in the midst of those same discouraging circumstances.

Just like yesterday, though, I want to put a disclaimer on my remarks: it's not that these rough spots aren't truly difficult. It's definitely not the case that somehow a belief in God makes all things perfect. However, I do believe that faith in God changes one's perspective on even the hardest of situations. There's a real difference in the way that I respond to trials now versus when I was just beginning to know about Jesus.

Joy has become something deeper than a momentary gladness; it's a deep contentment in the face of suffering -- what Paul referred to as the secret he learned in moments both of sacrifice and plenty. It isn't a dependency on people or circumstance. It's the result of being connected deeply to a life-giving, life-renewing God. Joy like that can't help but be caught singing in the rain.

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