Fresh on Friday ~ Joy!

Wow Friday already~

Our son Joseph will have surgery 11:00 A.M. California time.
Big day as the Doctors plan to remove him from the ventilator.

Thanking God in advance for what I trust he will do.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

 James 1:2

What ever you might be facing I may not know, but I do know that if you can consider it joy, 

you will find it drenched in God's goodness!

We know that God has something good to achieve in all of this.

May sound strange to some, it did to me the first time I heard the term call it joy used.
Then I experienced it first hand and learned that,

it's joy because no trial touches us unless He first allows it to.

 God knows it's through our suffering we actually grow spiritually...

He also knows those of us who, without trials, may not draw near to Him.

It's His deepest desire that we do so.....

From our standpoint it's painful as can be, but God sees it as a connector

to a deeper relationship with Him.

It's in the knowing and believing just that, 

that I can find joy in this season we are in!

God will use this trial in our lives to achieve something awesome in our lives and the lives of others.

I know this experience of ours has had some wondering,

 "how would I handle it if it

were our family  in this situation?"

I ask my self over and over, what this would be like without God?

I'm glad I will never have to know the answer to that.

~

Trials will put our faith to the test....

are we going to believe the scriptures?

I rest in His promises.

In this, our faith will mature, our character will be polished until we shine and reflect Christ. 

This time in our lives, we will grow our endurance...not to fear or complain, but to develop 

an attitude of amazing trust and learn to completely rely on His strength not our own..

I pray if you are going through a trial or hardship that these words have encouraged you!

Oswald Chambers;
But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely.  
If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal 
that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.

Oh how I love that!

Resting in His promises, is what echos from my heart today....