Have you heard of this phenomenon? Rather than the traditional new year's resolution (e.g. lose weight, quit smoking, etc) which is also traditionally abandoned by spring, people are selecting one word to define their direction or focus for the year. I first heard of it from Ann Voskamp and decided this year to do the same.
In January I gave my new year a cursory name of "gratitude" but didn't go much further. After a bit of prayer, study and reflection, I've now refined that to "joy". Joy encompasses gratitude but also has a broader and deeper meaning. While nailing down the word "joy" and really defining it as my word for the year, I felt like a Bible college student again, pulling out my Strong's Concordance, Greek-English Interlinear Bible and Vine's Expository Dictionary to do a bit of a word study. I sat with my laptop at my dining room table, blanket over my legs, a kitten snuggled at my feet (no kitten in the dorm, but a recommended addition :) ) with my bibles and reference books scattered across the table (somehow the internet just wasn't enough today) trying to define this one word for my year. JOY
The world defines joy as a state of happiness or felicity. Well, that's easy, as long as everything goes my way and nothing bad happens. Or, I could just stick my head in the sand and pretend everything was great: walk around with a goofy smile on my face so everyone will think I'm joyful. But joy goes deeper than happiness. Happiness is a product of our circumstances, Joy is a reflection of our heart.
James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, you can't get much more contrast with the world's view than that, huh? In my life, when I think of a trial I think of something that has been very present in my life over the past ten years...infertility. In April my husband and I will celebrate eleven blessed years together, alone. I know I sound stark, and I'm trying not to wallow, truly, but a decade is a very long time to wait for something.
Now, according to James I should count all this 10 years of struggling a joy. But why? James 1:3-4 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
One verse I hear so often used in situations such as mine, when we as Christians can't see a reason for what God has ordained, is Romans 8:28. It's quoted almost as a platitude: I don't get it but God will work it all out for your good. What we forget is the following verses of context that define what this "good" is that God is working all things together for.
Romans 8:28-30 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
You see, the good He's working in us is to conform us to the image of His Son. And in verse 30 we see that He won't leave us half-done. We are not some DIY project He gets bored with before moving on to another. God always finishes what He starts.
In our infertility journey, we've struggled together, and individually, through both dark times and times of faith, lasting anywhere from months to minutes, and are stronger, both separately in the Lord and within our marriage, for that struggling. But we miss the point of the struggle if we're not learning through it to be more like Christ.
And that's where the joy comes in. This is not a case of making lemonade from lemons. I'm not to be superficially happy with all the free time I have on my hands or the lack of diaper blow-outs or the solid nights of sleep. Oh, no, I rejoice because I know that there's more to the situation than meets the eye. I know that what looks like a lack, is actually a tool in my Father's hands to mold me more and more to the image of Christ.
And that is true joy.
Is there an area of your life where you need to look for the joy?
Have you selected a one word resolution for your year? Will you share it with us?
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