Joy in the Lord

Jesus is both the author and finisher of our faith.  Sometimes we lose sight of that; we can easily remember that He is the author of our faith, but sometimes we are so consumed with the problems in our lives that we do not see Him as the finisher of our faith.

Each and every one of us has been through or will yet go through a very dark time in our life.  It is called a dark time because it is like being in a miry pit from which we see no means of escape.  Nothing brings us comfort; no one can rescue us.  We are like a drowning victim, struggling against those who would save us.

No one wants to be in that pit of despair; we all long to feel again the warm kiss of sunshine on our cheek and bathe in the knowledge that we are loved and safe.  For those of us who know Christ, we are always loved and always in His care....always.  The problem arises when we are so busy looking at the mud on our clothes and face that we are unable to see God in his mercy and love who has already given us robes of righteousness.  No matter how dark our night or how hopeless it all seems, God is not finished with us yet.  He loves us better than anyone ever can and He can do all things.  Is anything to difficult for God?  He who began a good work in you WILL bring it to completion.

But this I call to mind,

and ktherefore I have hope:

22  lThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;2

lhis mercies never come to an end;

23  they are new mevery morning;

ngreat is your faithfulness.

24  o“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

k“therefore I will hope in him.”

25  The Lord is good to those who pwait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

26  qIt is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord. ~ Lamentations 3:21-26

 

We must keep our eyes on Christ and cling to His promises.  Our hope is in Him and not on our efforts.  We must, in our prayers, cling to that hope and reflect on His faithfulness to us.  We must remember that His love is not conditional; He loved us when we were still enemies and will love us still now.  We will live again; we will laugh again and our joy will be in the Lord.