"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."
1 Peter 1:8, ESV
The pursuit of joy and happiness is an important one; to say that God doesn't want us to be happy or to pursue joy is false. God doesn't call us into a life filled with sorrow and grief, but one filled with joy. But the joy we live in is not one found in anything in this world, but only comes in knowing Christ and the glorious hope that is in Him.
Joy is something we all want to have but seems hard to acquire and even harder to hold on to. The number one thing that steals our joy is the constant in-flux of challenges that life brings. We're happy one moment until a loss, a tragedy or a difficult circumstance falls on our lap; all of a sudden, happiness seems to escape us.
But Romans 5:3 tells us, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance" (ESV). The world wants us to think that joy and happiness only come when things are good and we aren't plagued by problems, but God wants to give us an unspeakable joy that survives and thrives even in the deepest of trials.
How do we receive joy even in the midst of trials? The same kind of joy that the apostles and early Christians had as they experienced persecution and even execution. The same kind of joy that Christians in the Congo, in closed nations and dangerous areas, have that makes them worship God even in the midst of death.
If there was anyone who knew trial, it was probably Peter. He had been imprisoned, beaten, tried unjustly, starved and fatigued. But the man who once denied His master three times was different now. He had found a joy and peace unlike any other. In one account in Acts 12:6a, it says, "Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers..." (ESV). Imagine what peace Peter must have had to be able to sleep so soundly in the midst of his trial and possibly an execution!
1 Peter 1:8b tells us, "...you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" (ESV). There is an unspeakable, unshakable and unending joy found in the hope we have in knowing Christ. You can approach God and ask for the joy to fill you today and you will be filled because of who Jesus is.
What trial are you facing at this moment? Are you waiting for your trials to disappear before you start rejoicing? You can receive unspeakable and amazing joy even in the midst of trials through Christ, and that joy is available to anyone who asks and believes that Jesus is indeed more than enough.
