Consider It All Joy

On a particularly difficult morning, I opened the cabinet door to retrieve a coffee mug, and the mug staring back at me read, “Consider it all joy.”

I sighed as I thought, “Joy is the last thing I feel right now.”

I selected the mug anyway and began to fill it with coffee.  With a full mug in hand, I headed toward my work-from-home office.

As I sat the mug down on my desktop, it again stared back at me with its proclamation, “Consider it all joy.”

“How?”  I wondered.  My heart was breaking into a million pieces.  How could I possibly experience joy amidst this pain?

With tears in my eyes, I cried out to God, “How Father?  How can I consider this joy?”

The mug still beckoned, “Consider it all joy.”

With tears now streaming down my face, I questioned, “Even this, Father God?”

The words played on repeat in my mind, “Consider it all joy.”

“Ok,” I surrendered, “Then how, God, how do I consider this joy? Show me how.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust God.  I did.  I trusted in His wisdom.  I trusted in His might.  I trusted in His sovereignty.  I trusted that the current circumstances were only a sliver of the big picture.  I had read a devotional about this very thing a few days prior.

Within the devotional was the story of the White Horse from South America.  The story goes like this:

A white stallion had ridden into the paddocks of an old man and all the villagers had congratulated him on such good fortune. And the old man had only offered this: “Is it a curse or a blessing?  All we can see is a sliver.  Who can see what will come next?”

When the white horse ran off, the townsfolk were convinced the white stallion had been a curse.  The old man lived surrendered and satisfied in the will of God alone:  “I cannot see as He sees.”

And when the horse returned with a dozen more horses, the townsfolk declared it a blessing, yet the old man said only, “It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”

Then the man’s only son broke his leg when thrown from the white stallion.  The townsfolk all bemoaned the bad fortune of that white stallion.  And the old man had only offered, “We’ll see.  We’ll see.  It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”

When a draft for a war took all the young men off to battle but the son with the broken leg, the villagers proclaimed the good fortune of that white horse.  And the old man said but this, “We see only a sliver of the sum.  We cannot see how the bad might be good.  God is sovereign and He is good and He sees and works all things together for good.”

As I reflected on this story, I thought, “Lord, I believe this with all my heart.  I can only see a sliver of the sum.  You see things that I cannot, and I have faith though I cannot see.  You will work all things together for good.  But joy, how can I have joy in the waiting?  Reveal this to me.”

I continued to pray off and on throughout the day.  I soaked in the truth of God’s word, His promises, His sovereignty, His power, His love, His goodness.  And eventually, a peace began to come over me, and I found myself feeling joy amidst my sorrow.

Yes, joy amidst my sorrow – the joy didn’t replace my sorrow but rather existed in the midst of it.

Joy amidst the sorrow.  Joy amidst the pain.  Joy amidst the heartache.

My joy, my hope, my peace was in God.  As Nehemiah said in the Bible, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I thought of an old gospel hymn, “Joy Unspeakable”:

I have found His grace is all complete,

He supplieth every need;

While I sit and learn at Jesus’ feet,

I am free, yes, free indeed.

<Refrain>:

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Full of glory, full of glory;

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Oh, the half has never yet been told.

I have found the pleasure I once craved,

It is joy and peace within;

What a wondrous blessing, I am saved

From the awful gulf of sin.

<Refrain>

I have found that hope so bright and clear,

Living in the realm of grace;

Oh, the Savior’s presence is so near,

I can see His smiling face.

<Refrain>

I have found the joy no tongue can tell,

How its waves of glory roll;

It is like a great o’erflowing well,

Springing up within my soul.

Yes, the joy of the Lord is my strength.  Joy unspeakable and full of glory.  Oh, the half has never yet been told.

Consider it all joy, even this.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 (NIV)

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.”  Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

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