“We need to talk.”
“I don’t love you.”
“She’s not going to make it.”
“He took his own life.”
Once you hear enough of these, your mind goes to some dark, sad places. Whether you or your loved ones have been plagued by betrayal, addiction, disease, or death, life doesn’t feel like a blessing when trials mount. Everyone encounters disappointment, dismay, and darkness. No one truly floats through life unscathed, no matter how they may appear on the outside.
Life’s problems can make God’s promise to never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) feel strained. Maybe hardships have made you stray from God and try things your own way because living for Him hasn’t brought you earthly joy or success. So, how do we find joy in dark times?
Focus on Eternity
Consider John the Baptist. The prophet followed Jesus wholeheartedly, “crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lᴏʀᴅ; make His paths straight’” (Mark 1:3; cf. Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23). He gave up his own status and position for the Messiah, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And what earthly reward did it bring him? Nothing. The man lived an uncomfortable life in the wilderness before suffering some of the worst hardships a person can encounter: persecution, imprisonment, and beheading.
Though we may find few earthly rewards, such devotion to Christ brings satisfaction that can’t be found in the things of this world.
But John didn’t chase a life of comfort. He knew life wasn’t about earthly pleasure. On the contrary, serving his Savior was his purpose and priority. Likewise, we know that our problems, “which [are] but for a moment, [are] working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Glorifying the God with whom we’ll spend eternity far outweighs the earthly struggles that accompany our service. Though we may find few earthly rewards, such devotion to Christ brings eternal satisfaction that can’t be found in the things of this world.
Put Your Hope in Christ
Our hope in Jesus can’t be snatched away from us. No one can beat it out of us, buy it off of us, or break it away from us. John’s life demonstrated this truth in the most extreme way. His enemies were large in number and power, and they showed him no mercy. After he challenged the Pharisees and Sadducees’ hypocrisy (Matthew 3:7), they said he had a demon (11:18). It wasn’t long before he was imprisoned for condemning Herod the Tetrarch’s evil act of marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias (14:3). Under pressure from Herodias’s daughter, Herod had John’s head cut off and brought before the girl on a platter (vv. 10–11).
John the Baptist’s story included no happy ending from a prosperity standpoint. At the girl’s request, he died, and thus ended his chapter on Earth. But even death could not rob him of the joy that he found in serving the Lord and “[preparing] the way of the Lᴏʀᴅ; [making] His paths straight” (3:3). He fully realized his delight in God when he died and went to be with Him forever.
The apostle Paul reminds us that “we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3–4). However terrible our situation gets, even if it reaches the point of our deaths, as it did for John, we can enjoy the same unbreakable happiness and hope in our heavenly Father.
Trust in God Alone
Unsurprisingly, unbelievers promote materialism and an unhealthy love of money as a means of happiness. But we must be on guard against this message within Christian circles as well. Some of the most financially prosperous Christian figures teach that their wealth comes from trusting God. They incentivize outward obedience to the Lord not because it’s what He deserves and commands but because there’s earthly reward in it.
Putting our faith in riches leads nowhere, “for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:5). The arrogance that comes from trusting in prosperity leads to disaster: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18). We must vigilantly reject the temptation to trust in the comfort of wealth.
But money doesn’t scratch everyone’s itch. Some become just as spiritually lost by trusting in other pleasures apart from God, perhaps from people, experiences, or even tranquility. Indeed, we can enjoy such things, but we must be careful not to elevate them to the place of trust that we owe God. When we trust in things apart from Him for deliverance from darkness, we stray from His presence. It becomes far too easy to forget how dependent on the Lord we truly are. But our trust and joy belong in Him alone, for Jesus promised, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Let us remember to give our Savior and Deliverer the thanks we owe Him alone.
Rejoice, Be Patient, and Pray
Through a life focused on obeying the Lord and enduring all challenges with uncompromising trust in His provision, we find true, unshakable joy.
John the Baptist’s life proves a poignant point to us who believe in Jesus: We don’t deserve comfort, nor should we expect it. In fact, we should get accustomed to discomfort as we live righteously in an unrighteous world. Using our time, resources, and efforts in ways that please God should take precedence over our own desires. Through a life focused on obeying the Lord and enduring all challenges with uncompromising trust in His provision, we find true, unshakable joy.
Allow the apostle Paul’s instructions from Romans 12:12 to take root in your heart as you endure the difficult parts of life: “Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” Our hope and joy are in the Lord, and no circumstance can steal them from us. Remaining patient in our troubles and praying to our heavenly Father faithfully will keep our hearts exactly where they should be: fixed on the goodness of the Lord.
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