Life is full of disappointments. There's enough sadness around for everyone to know the hardest times that humans can experience.
The way of faith doesn't deny suffering and struggle, it simply recognizes that difficult experiences are not the end of the story.
No, God's way of "doing business" is to redeem every situation, to lift us up, to teach us, to help us grow. No matter your circumstances today, these gifts are available to you now.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
Psalm 146:5-7
How many times do we say to ourselves, “I’ll be happy once I graduate,” or “I’ll be happy once summer comes,” or “I’ll be happy once I finish this big project.” We have a thousand reasons for why we are unhappy, and many of them are simply that we’re waiting for some source of pain to leave us. God has a different idea about happiness.
Happiness in God’s world is not the absence of pain. It is the presence of God, who cares about our pain and who acts on our behalf. We think of happiness as a high emotion that can only be reached once our lives are void of painful things, but God is the source of happiness.
Happy are those who hope in the Lord!
Chris Cherry
God of goodness, you are the source of my true happiness. While my emotions change by the hour, the happiness you bring is greater than all else. Pain is real and pain is hard but, Lord, your happiness comes in spite of my struggles. Lord, I smile as I place my trust in you. Amen.
Resurrection is an every day kind of thing.
We celebrate it at Easter, each Sunday,
And, in fact, all the days in between.
Place no limitations on God's determination
To redeem your life regardless of circumstance.
Live into the kind of faith that anticipates redemption.