I just want to share with you a simple fun truth I’ve been learning. ??
The last couple days I’ve been meditating (and memorized) the famous James 1:2-4.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, so you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Count it all joy. It reminds me of Philippians 4, where we know that in every situation, we are to be content.
Why though?
So we can be perfect and complete. I think it means living a life that we aren’t affected by our circumstances. That deep down we know our hope in Christ that the eternal value we have been gifted. And ultimately that outweighs everything that the world can offer.
It is a very sweet mindset to be living in. Not to say as Christians who seek this is void of any emotions of grief/sadness/anguish and so on. But that we know how to find joy through all those authentic feelings. By having deep down real untouchable joy that comes from God.
I get to practice a little bit of this doing the Camino. I can’t be thankful enough to have this opportunity to walk this. As I know it is many people’s dreams to one time do.
The pain we endure (which is easy compared to the persecution to those brothers and sisters around the world) in our legs from blisters, and strained ligaments and injured muscles, I can practice in such a small scale to have joy.
I can practice in such a small scale to have joy even when my body is reacting to mosquito bites pretty severely, inflamed and pussing and definitely itchy. Ask my friends, it looks gross lol.
I can find joy and be thankful for making it to the next town in time to use the toilet from a mild case of diahhrea (nothing compared to the parasite incident in Nepal!).
I can find joy and peace even when I went to a foot doctor that turned out to be a medical student, lost in translation of English and Spanish and coming out of it with a more injured foot than going in. (They forced popped a blister that was barely forming, so essentially they were poking my fresh skin). I couldn’t even walk on it after.
I think God gives me the little things so I can practice the little. Before he would give me bigger things to practice more. Because I now know that in every various kinds of trials we meet, we can produce something beautiful in us. Steadfastness! Character! Hope!
I hope you too can find in the little things of annoyance in life and learn to count the joy in it!
Here is a rewrite of the verse in my own words that I shared with my squad:
Let us count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, for the trials we met of all various kinds on the Camino. For we know that the testing of our faith and what we have learnt over the months produces steadfastness. And let us allow that steadfastness that is being tested to have it’s full effect, that we can be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, but filled with Joy. So that we can rejoice always, having known that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. ??
With love! ♥?♥?♥?
