Take Back Your Joy: Fighting for Purpose When Life Is More Than You Can HandleSample

# Is This As Good As Life Gets? For many years, God allowed me to suffer through numerous hardships that initially left me hopeless, frustrated, joyless, and longing for answers. I wish I’d understood at a younger age the importance of a biblical foundation because when it comes down to it, the only way to get through trials with joy is to study God’s Word, know His character, and be in a relationship with Him. After so much heartache, no amount of self-help or motivational words could save me. Have you ever been there? In a place that is way out of your depth or limping through trials that continue to debilitate? I began to believe my life wasn’t worth living. I couldn’t fight back anymore, and I started to question everything. But with each intense crack I experienced, anger, complaints, selfishness, lack of forgiveness, control, and comparison stole my joy and kept me from living free in the victory I knew God had provided through His Son. What I believed in my head and felt in my heart were very different realities. Because I misunderstood how intertwined the gospel and sufferings are, I kept myself from believing the truth about God’s character and experiencing joy in my worst seasons of life. I was desperate to experience Christ’s joy and Christ as my joy. Philippians 1:29 says, “You have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for Him.” (Read that with joy as a synonym for privilege.) So we have the joy of trusting in Him and the joy of suffering for Him. The privilege of sharing in Christ’s suffering is so countercultural in our world. I had lost my way. When we understand that our suffering is implicit in our joy, our perspective on hardship and pain begins to change. I have learned that the two most important ways to maintain joy are knowing His Word and believing the truth about God. Everything starts with our understanding of the gospel and building an unshakable foundation on the character of God. In the days to come, we’ll ask, How do we even fight for purpose and take back our joy when life is more than we can handle? I’ll share some of my struggles and my testimony of how God helped me overcome them in hopes that you, too, can still fight for joy when life is more than you can handle. > Do you believe there are places in your life that God wants to restore? From where has your joy been taken?