“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

Hope and Joy

Walk His Way Revisited

First Posted in February, 2014

My emotional highs and lows confuse and often leave me distressed. Sometimes I’m on top of the world. I sing and laugh and my heart feels like it’s literally overflowing joy. Then, another moment I feel empty, lacking purpose, and a failure. Guilt and shame come over me in waves.

Sometimes I find myself distraught by injustice. The hurt, the wrong, and the suffering in this world make me dissatisfied and confused with my happy life. Why was I born into this life instead of the life of a girl who is starving and cold? Why have I been so well provided for in my life, when another woman feels she must sell her physical body to survive?

Why have I been blessed to know Christ so that I could know my identity in Him and thus be confident in my Savior, instead of someone who has grown up in a country where Christianity is a crime punishable by death?

Why?

I could ask that question for days. About life. About suffering. About my emotional highs and lows. About everything.

And honestly, I would probably never get an exact, straightforward answer. There is sin in this world, and from sin stems injustice, suffering, foul acts, pain, hunger, starvation of life, loneliness, and sorrow.

But there is also a great Light. Jesus. From Him comes true joy. The joy that makes my heart feel like it’s bursting. From Him comes a secure hope, a hope that can be firmly trusted in. Hope that is an anchor for my soul. From Him flows rich, abundant, everlasting Life.

This incredibly beautiful and painfully ugly world we live in is a product of both forces. But light is stronger than darkness. ALWAYS. Christ defeated death and darkness when He died on the cross. The punishment that has brought me peace was upon HIS shoulders.

Oh sweet, perfect Jesus. He took our physical pain, all of it. Every crime committed, the most heinous sins you can imagine. Awful, awful things. He took them upon His shoulders as if He, though blameless, had been the one who did them.

Jesus. Because of Him I am free to have joy always, in spite of my circumstance and in spite of the circumstance of the world around me. It doesn’t mean that I will always be happy. It doesn’t mean that I won’t be bothered by suffering. It doesn’t mean that my heart will never break for the pain I see.

It means that I get to be a vessel of hope carrying the joy of the message of Jesus into this dark world. It means I get to walk confidently in the calling He has placed on my life. It means I get to be passionate about His truth. It means I get to spread life by the power of God.

Lord, grant me strength, wisdom, joy, peace, courage, hope, faith, bravery, boldness, and love to go forth and spread Your Word. AMEN.

“This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast…” Hebrews 6:19