Daily Devotionals

March 24th, 2022

Read:  James 1:2-4 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Do you find you are often searching for the next thing to bring happiness to your life? Or do you feel there is no hope of finding happiness? The truth is happiness is fickle. Happiness is based on circumstances and emotions and can come and go at any time. So how do we find happiness? By choosing joy. In her book, “Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn’t Enough”, Kay Warren states, “joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.” In a blog post from a couple of years ago, she notes that when she wrote the book, she was coping with a family member who had a mental illness. She struggled to find joy in her circumstances and had to make a conscious choice to choose joy. Her realization was that joy was not being happy but rather being certain God is our “source of strength when happiness is not enough.” As some may know now, that family member was her son, who later took his own life. Even in that terrible time of grief, she chose joy. We are going to face trials in our life that threaten our happiness, but they cannot take away our joy if we choose to rely on God’s strength.