Finding Pure Joy in our Deepest Longings

I’ve been praying to God for something that hasn’t been answered yet. I know that God doesn’t always answer prayers right when we pray. Sometimes he answers them in unforeseen ways. Sometimes he answers them in an entirely different season. 

And sometimes he doesn’t answer them at all.

We have to be okay with all the possible outcomes. We have to surrender the” what ifs” to God. It’s not easy waiting for a response to an unanswered prayer, but what we do during the waiting season defines and cultivates our character. How we do anything is how we do everything, especially during the earth-spinning, chaotic, fear-inducing eras of life.

In Romans 5:3-5, we read that:

3 Not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

5 Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

I’m no stranger to the unknown, although the lure of loneliness surrounds me. I could give up and give in to the trials, but the Holy Spirit inside me simply won’t let me. I have moments of weakness and let myself feel the pain of rejection, but I pick myself up and move on. 

Sometimes the journey forces me to crawl. 

Sometimes, it gives me the freedom to run. 

But never does it allow me to stop.

As we are faced with setbacks and difficulties, our character is tested. Parts of our life may be beaten down and crumbled around us, yet our endurance remains steadfast. This is the same endurance that connects us to the hope that is already in us. God’s love is seen through His gift of the Holy Spirit, who acts as our helper, comforter, intercessor, and guide.

So even though we may feel separated from the promise that God is good through everything, even the bad, we can lean on the Holy Spirit within us to renew our minds to see through the lens of a triumphant hope that awaits us.

Furthermore, in James 1:2-3, we are called to consider our tribulations pure joy. As our faith is challenged by the world and put on trial, it is our choice to hold fast to the Lord that vindicates our character.

 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Seeing God through the midst of our storms is how we continue to cling to the hope and goodness that is still up ahead. The more we seek the Lord and lift our struggles to Him, the nearer He feels to us. He extends His hand to us when we need him most and even when we don’t. His hand sustains us through the harsh winters we’re served and allows us to pull from Heaven’s reserve for our source of strength.

Paul writes in Acts 17:27 to the People of Athens that “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

Paul said this during a time when the city of Athens was full of idol worshipping and the religious people there were unaware of the God who “made the world and everything in it.” (verse 24). God was still near in a time of ignorant worship, and God is near now.

Even in the valleys, God hears us. Jesus knows our pain. He’s before, beside, and behind us all through our suffering. He knows the beginning and the end of each trial we face.

The assurance of salvation should be our greatest earthly joy. The eternal joy to come is much greater than the fleshly inconveniences, burdens, and afflictions we will encounter in this short life.

Every day is another choice to put on strength, joy, and faith in the Lord. God knows what He’s doing, and nothing we go through is in vain. In Nehemiah 8:10, it is made clear our source of strength comes from the One who created strength:

“Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Though we may be afflicted, our character is fortified.

Though we may wander far from the well-lit path, God still walks beside us.

Though we may feel the grip of darkness, the Lord breathes new life back into us.

Though it may be hard, I will choose the purest form of joy.