“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord always, for in YAH the Lord is everlasting strength.”
When times became hard, it was so easy for me to fall into depression and despair, and I started to resign myself to the events going on in my life; however, God hadn’t planned for me to simply sit back, feel depressed, and moan over the various trials. Instead, He expected me to learn something and to grow as a Christian. Many lessons have been taught to me, but the one that I have needed every day and sometimes every hour is patience.
So what exactly is patience? One day during my devotions, I found a description of patience that greatly inspired me. It said, “Patience is the virtue that can endure, not simply with resignation, but with a vibrant hope.” Vibrant hope? That made me stop. Sure, I had been able to accept my circumstances and I was trying to go on with regular life, but vibrancy and hope were not in my vocabulary at all. To have enthusiasm for the future and excitement for God’s will was something I didn’t possess. I was realizing very quickly that I didn’t have a very biblical outlook on patience. I noticed how self-centered I was and how little I was trusting in the Lord. Slowly, I started thinking more and more on God, trusting in Him, and looking forward to His will in my life, whatever that may be.
To be completely honest, even though I looked toward the future and was relying more on God, I still was not very happy. Then I realized something else: Happiness, though good and wonderful to have, is not always going to be present in my life. Happiness is so fleeting and dependent on circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is something that I can always have no matter what happens in life. True joy comes from God. Joy in His salvation, His continuous blessings, joy in knowing that He is always with me to comfort and uphold me.
1 Peter 1:8 states, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”
Peace and joy, it all comes from the Lord. I now know that God loves me so much that it is impossible to write it down. I also realize that He has a perfect plan for me and that His plan is the best thing for me. I have to admit that I still struggle with doubts and sometimes even depression, but one thing that I do know which will never change is – God’s love will never fail me. His love will strengthen and uphold me no matter what trial or storm may come.
Joy is of the Lord
Poured upon the searching
Truth, not in excess of knowledge
But by faith, bestowed unto the believing
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