How do we hold on to joy in the midst of trials?
It was December 17, 1997. Mom was going in for a hip replacement—a routine surgical procedure. I had come home a day early from Key West to be with Mom the night before. We spent a quiet evening and just before calling it a night, I asked Mom if she was nervous.
“I’m okay. It’s in God’s hands,” she said.
As the attendants wheeled Mom through the doors early the next morning, Daddy and I kissed her and told her we loved her.
My brothers arrived shortly after and we sat in the waiting room together. I don’t recall how long we were there before someone came to get us. The news was not good.
Consider it pure joy …
Joy was the last thing I felt when the surgeon called my family into that small, private office to tell us that Mom’s heart had stopped beating while she lay on the operating table. Although they were able to get it started again, she had lost a lot of blood during surgery and was very weak. They were working hard to stabilize her.
We went back to the waiting room. Within moments we got more news. Her heart had stopped again. Did they want us to continue procedures to resuscitate?
Of course! What kind of question was that? Do whatever it takes. That’s my Momma you’re talking about.
Soon, they called us all into another room. The surgeon and hospital social worker informed us that due to the length of time her heart had stopped, there was the possibility of brain damage. We sat in shock. How could this be happening? It was routine surgery. A surgery that these medical professionals did often. What went wrong?
While the lead surgeon continued talking with us, the rest of the surgery team appeared in the doorway. They had done everything they could, but they were unable to save her. Team members were visibly shaken.
The brother of Jesus tells us in James 1:2 (NIV), “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”
James had just lost his brother who was beaten and hung on a cross, a seemingly untimely death for a man who was … well … perfect in every way.
How do you hold on to joy when a loved one unexpectedly dies? When a loved one is diagnosed with an incurable disease one day and is gone the next? When a stroke follows routine surgery and your loved one never recovers mentally?
For one who does not know the Lord, it is difficult to understand the concept of pure joy in all things. The passage in the book of James is not suggesting we find joy because of our circumstances but rather to have joy in spite of our circumstances.
The joy of the Lord is the delight in our heart which comes from a relationship with our Heavenly Father, walking with Jesus, and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit.
Throughout life there will be lots of good times along with some disappointments and sorrows. With Jesus, though, we can consider it pure joy. Joy because we know we are a child of God. Joy because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Joy because we know, as a follower of Christ, we will live eternally with him and avoid the pit of hell.
Pure joy comes from knowing that nothing catches God by surprise and that His perfect plan for us includes turning our hurt into something worthwhile.
I found joy knowing that Mom was in God’s hands, accepting that she is eternally with Jesus, and realizing that as a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17) I will see her again one day.
So in all things, with the Lord as my strength, I can truly consider it pure joy. I hope you, too, can hold tight to the joy you have in Christ.
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