"Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
~James 1:2-4 (ESV)
Something that I have learned in life is that joy and happiness are not the same thing. It is very possible to be happy, but not joyful. Happiness comes from our surroundings, and varies from moment to moment. On the other hand, joy comes from knowing our Savior and having Him live in us. He is our joy. Because joy is not dependent on our circumstances, we CAN be joyful during trials.
I encourage you to be joyful today. It is easy to get so wrapped up in what is around us that we forget what truly matters. Making a "Thankful List" really helps. I journal each night and something that I have made a habit of doing is to include a list of things that I am thankful for each day. I've been doing this for over a year-and-a-half now, and I am on # 4,218. It doesn't have to be anything really complicated; you could write "I am thankful for a beautiful day." Just the act of thinking about your blessings can brighten any situation and help to make the trial a bit easier. Because, honestly, if you think about it, your life is easy compared to that of the other six billion people in the world. After going to a third-world country, I have been able to see first-hand how blessed we truly are. I don't wake up in the morning not knowing where my next meal will be. I don't go to bed wondering if this was my last day on earth because I am dying of AIDS (note* I do not have AIDS, just an example because it is reality for many people). I don't live my life in fear that I am going to be kidnapped and sold into slavery (for more information on this, visit my sidebar link "About Human Trafficking..."). Compared to the billions of people out there, my life is crazy easy. My trials are nothing compared to theirs. I'm not trying to undermine the trials in your life - I know that they can be really, really hard. I'm just trying to say that sometimes life isn't as bad as we make it out to be - at least not when we compare our circumstances to those of many others. Today, I challenge you to be joyful because of the hope that lives within you: Jesus. I challenge you to examine your life and see that you probably have it much, much easier than many people around you - so stop complaining. Life isn't easy by definition or action, but we can still find joy and peace in the midst of our trials.If we allow our trials to consume us, then we aren't truly living. Every day is a gift, and if we are pessimistic and only allow ourselves to see the pain and trials, then we aren't embracing that gift. We can make the most out of every moment by being joyful. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to waste the precious time that I have on earth. It isn't long, only but a breath. I don't want to come to the end of life and find that I have never truly lived because I have never learned out to make the most of each day.
Blessings,
Hannah
How inspiring. I get down in the dumps a lot, but I should always remember how lucky I am. Thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteBlog Buddy,
Esther
Hannah I really needed this today. Thanks
ReplyDeleteKayleigh
Great post, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty easy to forget how truly lucky the majority of us are. Sometimes you really have to step back and think about it for a second, even if it is obvious. Thanks for the reminder!
~Zach
Hannah,
DeleteI really needed to hear what you had to say. Thank you!!
Kelsie
Hey Hannah.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't met, but I'm one of Esther's friends. My name's Daniel and I wouldn't be surprised if you have already heard about me.
I would argue with your definition of joy. I've seen plenty of people have what I would call joy that had no interest in following God's way. I understand the point you're trying to make however I don't think there is a word that can really sum it up. And that's the way it should be.
About trials, don't understate what happens in your own life. Everything you face is unique to you in some way. Making them into huge monsters won't help. But at the same time if you make them into tiny critters then you devalue the good things that come with them. Like the verse you quoted. An example, if I had a class that I told everyone was way easy then having a good grade in that class isn't as impressive.
I look forward to catching up on the rest of the posts on here and all the one to come in the future.
Daniel.
P.S. World population is 7 billion. Unless you were talking about the part of that population that doesn't live in a first world country, which is 6 billion. Wasn't sure.
Daniel,
DeleteIt's lovely to meet you and I am so glad that you are following our blog!
The point of this blog, for me, is not to force my view on anyone. I will state my beliefs, opinions, and perspectives, and I know that not everyone will agree with me - as you did not. Definitions are a tricky thing - particularly in regards to abstract qualities. One thing will not necessarily mean the same thing to another.
I said that merely because I do believe my general hardships to be much less than theirs. I have seen how the live, talked with them, and experienced their culture. My life is easy compared to theirs. While I do realize that making to little of our trials in not good either, I do believe that I am correct in my statement - as I have seen it firsthand. I stated this in regards to general hardships: lack of shelter, food, family, etc. I don't live on the streets. I don't feel unloved because I don't have a family. In these regards, my life is crazy fabulous. It's a matter of perspective and experience. I have had experience and I have a rather unique perspective.
Regarding the world population, it had not topped seven billion as of the last time that I checked. I apologize if my failure to round the number caused you confusion. I did just check, and found that the number reached approximately 7.017 billion in March in this year. My apologies for the misinformaiton.
Hannah