Count it ALL Joy (pt 2)

I was sitting here eating a banana this morning reading with the She Reads Truth gang about the fruit of the Spirit and I had me some thoughts. 

I would love to share them with you beloved reader, and I apologize in advance if none of it makes sense because I'm only on my first cup of coffee. 

The past few weeks have been a heavy flow of one sad, depressing, rough and tough love song for those around me that I hold near and dear.   Although my home has only been plagued with your garden variety of hardships, nothing has quite come even remotely close to the difficult things that have been circling around me. I'm not one who can hear about your sadness and move on my merry way. Some can, and God bless them because they are the folk that keep the world spinning around, but this girl carries with her the sadness like a catchy tune that just lingers day after day. It's the only thing that I can think about.
So it seems strange to me that I would sit here and feel compelled to write some more on the topic of JOY, but in my reading this morning I came across this ;
"In your presence there is fullness of JOY" Ps 16:11   For some reason this just jumped off the page and reminded me that the JOY of the LORD is my strength. It's not something you can conjure up or create.  This joy, that is "of the Lord"  *(sorry that just made me think of the movie Nacho Libre and  "these are the Lord's chips"  quote... I feel like every time I mention "the joy of THE LORD" for this blog we should say it in a Nacho Libre accent) Ok so this JOY "of the Lord" is not like taking a happy pill or going around singing that happy song that asks you to clap along, even though I do love that song and usually clap along.   Its something completely different than the emotion of happy. 
The joy "of the Lord" is almost like a character trait that comes only from being in the Lover of your Souls presence.  It's not my joy. Its not a fake happy. It's a state of being that never leaves.
You can be going through just about anything and still not be in the "depths of despair" as Anne of Green Gables would say, because you know deep down in your knower that everything really will be ok.
That's not to say that I don't still have a heavy heart for the very difficult things that are going on around me. I can also grieve and cry and feel sadness, but those aren't the constant in my life. Because I have learned a very long time ago that with this particular kind of genetic make up... the kind that would be described as; *Wearing your heart on your sleeve *Being overly sensitive *Having a Sentimental heart it is best not to ignore the tune, but rather to dive deep into the pain, and then sing it to the lover of my soul.
Because as I sing the sad love song, the song that He has felt so much more than I can imagine He listens and then carries on. His hands are strong and able to heal much better. His heart is unbreakable and much bigger than mine. His eyes never slumber nor sleep. He is always mindful of his creation and knows best how to comfort them all.  So I leave the sadness with him and he replaces it with JOY, that then becomes my strength. 

"Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren and sisteren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

Count it ALL Joy!

This lil gem was in my draft section and I blew the dust off because I needed the reminder maybe you do too ? 

I've been thinking about this scripture;

"Consider it all joy my brethren (or sisterhood) when you encounter various trials"

Have you heard these words from the book of James before?

You can find them in the very first chapter of the book of James in the bible.

It's hard to believe that this is what James, Jesus' brother wrote in the very beginning of his book.

It was like right off the bat he wants you to know, he's not gonna be the book you go to, to feel cozy and warm.

He didn't mess around that James dude!

As a writer you look for the opening statement that is grab your reader and keep them reader, I'd say James was a pretty damn good writer wouldn't you?

"Consider it all joy my brethren (or sisterhood) when you encounter various trials"

Ok maybe he doesn't have the sisterhood bit in there, but I'm sure that was just an oversight, I won't hold that against him will you?

The past few weeks I feel as though I have had me some trials!

I have heard me some trials from beloved friends!

They aren't the kind that are 3rd world trials by any means, but none the less they have been challenging to me and to those I love deeply. 

And whenever I go through tough times personally, or just from hearing of the variety of trials around me I always think to myself...

That James must have been on CRACK cause JOY is the last thing I think of when I'm having a bad day, week, month, YEAR!!

I mean no disrespect, but I wonder if anyone else can relate here?

I mean, if you take the word 

TRIAL

and then the word

JOY

they just don't seem like they would be best friends, do they?

Know what I'm sayin'? 

So, then I wonder what do trials and joy have any business doing together in the same sentence?

I think that might be a rhetorical question, but then again maybe not because I'm going to try and answer it too.

In the past few weeks I have asked for prayers for myself from "the sisterhood" about oh... I dunno... umpteen times. 

I felt kinda like a rug. 

Beaten and shaken out to dry!

But, in the midst of these couple of rough weeks I realized that something deeper was happening and if I could just make it to the finish line(or to the coffee pot) I would be o.k. 

And, I can honestly say, that is why ... Today, I had myself a GREAT day!!

I made it to the other side of FUNK mountain and I came out singing.

The light at the end of this tunnel of FUNK was so bright it almost blinded me today.

As I walked around with a song on my lips and a spring in my step I just thought... 

Here is where Joy and Trials go hand in hand. 

Because the truth of the matter beloved reader is that there may pain in the night but joy really does come in the morning when you just hold on for dear life to the Anchor, Creator, Giver, Savior, and Healer.