JOY in ALL Circumstances?

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Sometimes we may need an extra serving when things happen that we don’t understand!

             We don’t always FEEL joyful, do we?  That is especially true when situations occur that we can’t understand. Happenings such as tragic accidents that claim productive young lives; wonderful parents who lose a child; Godly individuals diagnosed with a terminal disease.  I’m sure that we’ve all asked the same question: “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” 

            This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. And there is no simple answer.  We must acknowledge that God is eternal, all-knowing, and faithful. And His ways are “higher than our ways.”

         You’ll recall in the book of Job that God allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job… except kill him. He took away his family, his possessions, his health. But what was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job didn’t understand why God allowed these things to happen, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him.

When difficult times come upon us, is our reaction like that of JOB?   Only when we possess this kind of unwavering love for and faith in God, will we be able to experience JOY in all things!

           May we FAITHFULLY drink our JOY JUICE, even in the midst of trying circumstances.