WRITTEN BY TIM LABRECHE
Gary just got home from work. He’s had a rough day.
- His day started with him brewing a pot of coffee without putting the grounds in the filter basket. No coffee this morning.
- On the way to work, he got a ticket because he forgot he had to slow down when a car is on the shoulder. That’s $155 he’ll never get back.
- While at work, he made a serious error on the Quarterly Productivity Report that gets sent to the president of the company. Luckily, it was caught before the president included it in his conference call to investors. Gary was still called out for it by his supervisor. He also dropped his tuna fish sandwich on the floor.
There were a few other difficult things that happened today that included a hot water heater, an incredibly bad headache and another reprimand from his boss. How would you be if you had a day like Gary? Would you grumble your way through it? Would each and every unfortunate thing that happened to you bring you closer and closer to you exploding? Or would you respond like Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:4 when he says, “…I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” That literally says that Paul experienced abundant, overflowing, and unending joy. No matter what our emotions tell us when we’re having a bad day, it’s possible in the midst of trials to be filled with joy.
Galatians 5:22 lists the fruits of the Spirit. One of the fruits, which is evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your life, is joy. As believers of God who are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to overflow with so many different qualities of excellence in our lives, one of which is joy.
You might be thinking that Paul was a great man of God used often in the scriptures. It makes complete sense that he would be filled with joy. He was so close to the Father that heavenly joy must ooze out of him. Right?!?! Even though Paul did share a close relationship with our Heavenly Father, let’s not forget that he still was human and struggled with the same fleshly frustrations that we do.
Let’s move on to the next chapter in 2 Corinthians when Paul mentions the body of believers in Northern Greece. These weren’t pillars of the faith like Moses, David, Solomon or Paul. These were common people that lived a common life and had put their faith in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 reads:
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
It says that the people in the northern Greek churches weren’t just poor, they were extremely poor. It’s not hard to picture what that might look like. It was most likely difficult to find food and shelter and to pay to have their daily needs met. It says that in the midst of their extreme poverty, they had overflowing joy and gave to others out of their joyful generosity! In their poverty, they gave with joy! Why do you think that is? It’s because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and he was the supply of their joy, even in the midst of incredible trials.
What about you? Are you letting an error at work steal your joy? Is a disappointment from a family member robbing you of the richness of His joy? Is some bad news robbing you of the joy our Father in Heaven has supplied you? If so, please consider these things:
1. Take some time and ask our Source of Joy to restore what He so freely gives. (Psalm 51:2)
2. Ask Him forgiveness for allowing circumstances and your emotions to rob you of His richness of joy. (Matthew 6:14)
3. When you experience trials, big or small, recognize that your joy isn’t based on your circumstance. It comes, in abundance, from your Father in Heaven. (1 Peter 1:8-9)
