As part of our ongoing series, we are answering questions for Bridgette or Elsie to consider and respond to. This week’s question is about living with joy in the midst of suffering…
Hi Bridgette!
I get that the world is broken, you read it on the news everyday. But how do you reconcile that with Jesus’s message to live lightly and freely? How can you live with love and joy, without worry, in light of today’s suffering?
Thanks for taking my questions!
Sorry this one will have to be short and (hopefully) sweet as my 3 year old is going through an ultra-clingy phase wherein I’m only allowed to get her chocolate milk and/or watch Scooby Doo with her. So I’m sneaking a quick break to write this post!
Yes, this world is broken. We are called to have an eternal perspective and keep our eyes on heaven. There, everything IS perfect. It’s the world we were created for, with the God we’re called to a forever relationship with.
Speaking of relationship, God calls us to be other-focused. We are to be His hands and feet in today’s messed up world. However, God doesn’t ask us to solve everything. And certainly we aren’t able to go it alone. We need his limitless power through the Holy Spirit to take the leaps of faith that drive us to action, with the expectation of success. Our inadequacies and limitations can be redeemed by Christ, if only we let Him. The battle, and the victory, belongs to the Lord.
Maybe you’ve heard this Mother Theresa quote before, but it’s a good one:
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
We don’t know God’s plan. Sometimes the small things that come across our path are actually the big things in another person’s life.
In another vein, perhaps living with joy amidst suffering (that of the world or your own personal suffering) lies in contentment that exists outside of our circumstances. And contentment comes trusting in God and living our lives according to His will for us. Our circumstances may change, but God’s promises don’t. Pray for an increase in our trust and hope in the Lord. Cast your worries upon God in prayer. He loves us! He wants us to surrender our worries about tomorrow to Him. Recognize that we’re safe in His hands. And rejoice for the freedom Christ’s sacrificial love has purchased for us.
“He is in our tomorrows, and it is tomorrow that fills people with fear. Yet God is already there. All the tomorrow’s of our life have to pass through Him before they can get to us.” F.B. Meyer
Oh and one more thing! When you feel your joy draining away, fight those mental battles against anxiety with the weapons God has provided us. See 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 and Ephesians 6: 13-28.
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