“Noone told me it would be this hard”, we often hear. But, is that actually the truth?
I hate to burst your bubble, but no, it’s not. Jesus told us in this world you will have trouble. But He also told us to fear not for He has overcome the world. As someone who often has a visceral reaction to Christian clichés, I know many of you are having a number of reactions right now, but don’t write me off just yet. Stay with me.
Paul said, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4
“Tam, I feel anything BUT joy!,” you are probably thinking, or if you’re anything like me, you are reading this and yelling at me through your phone. Trust me, I get it. I have these diatribes with myself pretty much on a daily basis. But I had a bit of a revelation the other day.
Everybody wants the anointing and the authority of the resurrection, yet they lack the endurance of the Via Dolorosa and the agony of the cross.
You cannot have authority in areas you have not endured, and not only endured, but leaned into the process and drawn from its lessons. That’s what Paul meant when he said “lacking nothing.”
Did I consider it Joy when I felt alone in my marriage for 20 years? No!
Did I consider it pure joy when I watched my two boys, so desperately wanting that connection with a male figure in their life, struggle? No!
Did I consider it pure joy when I had to walk away from that unhealthy marriage after praying and believing for it for so long? No!
Did I consider it pure joy when the hopes I had in a relationship, fell apart in one day, and left me with nothing but six boxes in the back of my van? No!
Did I consider it pure joy when I had to start from the bottom up to try and rebuild my life with absolutely no idea how I was going to do it? No!
Have I considered it pure joy when, for three years, I have rarely been behind a microphone doing the one thing that’s as easy to me as breathing? No!
Am I currently considering it pure joy to have to watch one of my children question God, question, Christianity, salvation, and the value of his own soul? No!
But, here is what I am considering pure joy, the fact that my questions don’t change who He is, and that is faithful and merciful.
The fact that He did walk with me and put my life together; He did give me beauty for ashes; He did, and continues to heal a heart that I defined as “pink mist”. That gives me hope, for He does not change.
Psalm 37:25 says, “I have been young, and now I’m old, but I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread.”
What’s more is a deeper understanding of the faithfulness of my heavenly father, a deeper empathy, to relate to those that are walking through these very things, and because of what I’ve walked through, a greater authority, and ability to speak into, and bring hope to others who are where I was just three years ago.
If Jesus is our example of how to live our lives, then we need to pay attention that, even though He wanted to, he didn’t side step, or take detours away from that long and painful road, the Via Dolorosa. No, “ for the glory set before Him. Christ endured.” And because of that, He had the position and the authority to take back the keys from the pit of hell, bring the ultimate death blow to sin and death, and now He sits at the right hand of the Father, the ultimate place of authority.
I consider that, pure joy.
Till next time…..
Tamara