If you were with me in elementary and middle school you would know how much I loved to dream and imagine. I would get lost in worlds that were not like mine. Reading, TV, movies…anything that would let me be somewhere else. I can suspend reality and be there in the plot, however crazy and unrealistic. It drives Dean crazy, he’s much more of a realist.

James 1:2 says to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Doesn’t that just make you scratch your head?! Trials and joy should not be in the same sentence! Every. Single. Person. Has. Trials. Some are specific to each person, while others are in the all play category: global pandemic, economic failure, racial injustice, natural disasters, modern day slavery and human trafficking.

Every superhero has an alter ego: Superman - Clark Kent; The Flash - Barry Allen; The Hulk - Bruce Banner; and Captain Marvel - Carol Danvers.

And another one: Joy - Trials

Our trials are the cover identity for the second half of the Dynamic Duo, our super power of JOY. It’s easy to have joy when things are smooth sailing, easy-peasy, living our best lives, but what about when the Dread Pirate Roberts (our trials) of life just keeps coming?

I loooovvveeee this movie! We know that the Dread Pirate Roberts didn’t give up his pursuit and really is Buttercup’s true love, Wesley, but they didn’t. They saw him as threat to their plan. Just as we see trials as a threat to our happiness, 5 year plan, etc. BUT! What if the trial isn’t the enemy, but an ally instead?

Joy in that verse not only means: delight & gladness; but also: the awareness (of God's) grace, which is unearned favor. Isn’t that awesome?!?! We have the opportunity in every trial to walk in God’s unearned favor and have joy that we are not walking alone.

The next couple of verses in James 1 goes on to explain that the difficult things we go through develops endurance, which makes us mature and complete (not lacking anything).

The kicker here is we have to go through the trial. That hard thing we’ve been avoiding and distracting ourselves from rather than dealing with.

I know! I know how hard it is and it’s the last thing we want to hear. I know how we want to be angry and lash out. How we want to cry and hide. God can handle all the emotions. He’s not going to turn away from you. Trust me on that! But then there comes the point in that pain where we can take that next step out of the anger, the despair. We can turn our attention and emotions over to our faithful, loving God who holds us.

Katherine Wolf (hopeheals.com) says: “Don’t wait to celebrate the life you have been given, even if it looks different from the one you thought you would have.”

Dreaming is good, but when we are not present or fully engaged with our lives, we miss out on the opportunity to create the life we can have, even if it looks different from what we thought.

John 15:11 “ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

That word “complete” means full. In the verses before and after John 15:11 Jesus was talking about love. His love for us and how we love others.

The first Dynamic Duo was compassion: being there for someone in their moment of pain; to love like Jesus loves us. When we combine the power of compassion with the power of joy, we become mature and complete: not lacking anything and full.

Having compassion and choosing joy can be guardrails for us. They can keep us from falling into hopelessness and despair.

Life can be hard and we will always have trials but we know they are in our lives for a purpose. May we face ours with joy, knowing Who Has our lives in His hands.

Fix your cape, super hero! You have all you need (in God) and are amazing!!

All My Love ~
Jodi xoxo

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