So I’ve been crazy busy of late….I like it. =) Normally I don’t like busy so much, but this happens to be an active that I am super-stoked about. After this weekend it will be over though. sadness.

I’ve always struggled with figuring out “joy” in the midst of trials. I know that joy versus happiness is that joy doesn’t depend on your circumstances. I know about joy theologically. When trails come I know that joy should be there, but I don’t know HOW joy is supposed to look like at those times. Is it a smiley, carefree countenance? I am very familiar with the joy that accompanies knowing my Savior, particularly when things are all hunky-dory, but what about this other stuff? Is it a serious joy? Or bubble-headed?
I’ve been around enough people who have had major trials in their life (I’m talking, bigger-than-paper-cuts-with-lemon-juice-sqeezed-on-it trials.) So many things are happening that “the joy of the Lord” during troubled times is no longer just a question I have in the back of my mind. It’s a goal for today. For everyday. I grapple with it, I ask God, what does it mean? how do I have it?

Today the question was in the back of my mind when suddenly my brain tuned into words which through the airwaves in the car.

“When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.“

When these troubles are eclipsed by His glory and we fix our gaze on Jesus, that’s when we see how much He loves us. And that’s when we have true joy. The troubles, the afflictions, the trials are still there, they haven’t gone anywhere, but our focus is shifted. This joy may not be a jumping-leaping-singing joy (or it may), more often than not it is a quiet, peaceful, let-me-rest-in-You,-my-True-Joy type of joy.
It is sweet.
That is my Monday Epiphany.

The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Zephaniah 3:17

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