Thursday – Letters

Reading – James 1

Highlight Verse:

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is one of those verses that you don’t want someone to quote to you when you’re feeling down.

That’s especially true if you are in mourning.

Before you up and slap that well meaning person who turns this verse into a cliché, let’s remember not to confuse joy with happiness.

Happiness depends on happenings. When things go our way, we can smile and feel good.

Joy pervades even when things don’t go our way. If we have an underlying confidence in the rightness of God and our position with Him, we know that we can get through the bad times.

It may not feel good as we go through it, but we know we will make it through and will be stronger from the experience.

The still doesn’t mean you should quote this verse to someone going through a rough patch.

But it will be helpful in our lives if we know this passage and this principle to help us through the tough times.

Have you been able to find joy in the midst of trial? Tell us about it.
Are you going through trials? Let’s pray for each other.