Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Recently, I read When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan. It is a funny, yet serious read about the author getting a pear-sized tumor in her head and all the life transformation that happened as a result. I feel like many of us could write a story of how life in 2020 has given us lemons. I actually like lemons. I love the sour taste of lemon in almost anything and they are highly beneficial for your health. Yet the metaphor for lemons is typically dismal. It tends to describe how most of us struggle in the struggle. No one typically craves or looks for conflict in their life, yet it happens in almost every season. Most of us are currently facing “lemons” in our lives, whether it be relational, vocational, physical or educational. Life has been and will continue to be a struggle facing this new normal. The gift in this reality is always grace that produces hope. With this grace, I can be joy-filled if not always joyful.
God gave me a gift of this perspective through the story of Noah and his storm. God told Noah to build a boat that could float, a big one with specific dimensions. Why would God call him to do this? God knew that he was about to send a flood. Noah was the last of the faithful, righteous followers and he would endure the storm on this boat. God was giving Noah and his family the gift of His grace. He was saving them along with some animals in this big boat. This is a popular story I have heard over and over and yet as I shared it with my kids, I was given the new perspective that this was God’s gift of grace for his people then and that grace is still given to us today. The storms in life will come, but how I choose to weather them is joy-filled in God’s big boat of grace. “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:2-4) Grace helps us stand and rejoice in sufferings.
Like struggles, gifts might not always be received well, especially if I don’t particularly like them or want them. God’s gift of grace becomes more real to me in my struggles. Grace is a better way to approach my struggles with people and circumstances. His loving grace is there to guide and fill me with true, lasting joy. Although it is hard to make lemonade out of these lemons, God is cheering me on and equipping me for the next season with more lemons to produce lasting fruitfulness in my life.
Be Joy-Filled
Gift. Grace. Hope.
How can I grasp this gift of grace in my life and extend it to others? What does it look like to be joy-filled?