“4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ” –
Everything is richer to those who know the Lord. One who truly knows and loves Christ should find joy in everything that he faces (). God brings to us a whole new way of looking at the world.
A lot of this mindset has to do with control, really. When approached from a secular standpoint – when the whole of creation is seen as nothing more than causality, one has limited responses to how they can deal with unfortunate or difficult situations: either you can be filled with despair, or you can simply decide to power through the situation, and come out better or worse on the other side. If, however, one were to face the same situation together with a relationship with God, you find that there is a much better option: trusting that God is in control and that there is a greater purpose at work than just random dumb luck and misery.
God uses events in our lives for different purposes. Perhaps, as an unbeliever, misery happens to draw you in, to make you question if there is a God. Perhaps not. As a believer, the loss of a business or family member (not… exactly the same thing, I know) can be faced with the knowledge that God is sovereign, and we can rest in Him, and in the knowledge that He is good.
When you are in communion with God, when you are seeking Him out each day, and spending quality time with Him, then you will find that the good things become greater, the bad things become bearable, and that there is an everlasting hope that underlines the base of every catastrophe, and you can hear, experience, and witness that joy, that hope, in the heart and voice of a believer who is trusting in the greatness of God
For a wonderful example of the juxtaposition of misery and the hope of everlasting joy, Page CXVI has a performance of “I’ve got the Joy” that shares this feeling in a way that mere words on a page never could. Check it out if you’d like! Joy by Page CXVI on Amazon.com
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4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (ESV)
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)