Find joy in the midst of trials

In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer



I'm sure everyone can relate to that time in life when the obstacles seemed too overwhelming. Life is full of turmoil and difficulty. Life has ups, downs and sideways. In today's column I want to give you hope that there is joy in the midst of difficulties. There is a point where you can get hope and happiness, even with the load you can spend.



Always know that behind the angry clouds that we see is a brilliant sun that pierced the darkness and shine through. Focusing on the trouble causes us to lose our joy.



Often times, when trouble comes, our natural tendency is to focus on ourselves and the problem. As a result we develop a survival mentality rather than an overcoming mentality. The overcoming mentality is what leads to spiritual growth and maturity in the Lord as well as success in our lives.



Struggles and hardships sift out the impurities in our lives



It is vision that sustains us in the midst of life's hardships, because it gives us the ability to see beyond that which is taking place in our lives momentarily. Let's put this to the test. I recall some trials that I was going through when I moved to Toronto a few years ago. I was pursuing my girlfriend (who is now my wife) and I knew that the best if not only way that I could really court her is if I packed up from my home in Saskatoon and move to Toronto. It was absurd to me in many ways. I had an established career, a great family, a successful business, network or friends, sports etc. I liked my life in Saskatoon. In ways I had fear and making that choice presented many emotions.



However I did choose to see the joy in the midst of this hardship. I choose to look at the adventure and excitement of courting my wife in a new environment. I embraced new relationships, new opportunities in finding employment and exploring the grand city of Toronto. Alas I was only able to catch one Maple Leaf game live, but I did manage to watch a few Blue Jays Baseball games. There were times where I still felt out of my league and but the adventure kept me joyful and hopeful in the present and that presented well in my future. Now I look back and I see the benefits of choosing the adventure of moving to Toronto with no regrets and a big smile.:) At the beginning before I moved to Toronto I did not have vision to see through the hardships in the moment. However as I continued my journey I found a great refining in my life as I embraced the change that was taking place. Maybe you have a story that you can relate where you've been refined as you've gone through trials.



This Week's Reflect and Apply



I shared a story of how I found joy in the midst of a trial. There are thousands of different turbulence that we face in our earthly lives. We are born to have some suffering in life. unfortunately we will find hardships with family, jobs, finances, death, raising children, abuses, habits, anxiety, illness and much more. The main thrust of this message is not for you to dwell on your current or past trials it is to encourage you with hope that you can have joy in the midst of those trials. That doesn't mean we'll be jumping with gladness inside and it doesn't mean you'll be darting for the sun when we suffer a setback. However it does mean that there is hope and gladness to be found in even the most grieving times. Today take a moment to reflect on the word joy and ask yourself what it means to you. How can you take this meaning and apply it the next time you're in the midst of a trial? I hope this message is an encouragement to you.



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