Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Joy

John 16: 20-22, 24
20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
• • •
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

In my reading I came across this scripture and it really struck me. I've been very happy lately, but there are some days when I just have a hard time. Right now, school is really stressful, as I have 2 big presentations and about 400 pages to read before Thanksgiving break, and that's only in two classes. I've been missing some people and aspects that aren't currently in my life but are out of my control. But after reading this scripture I remembered that I have nothing to be sad about. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ, and although times may be hard, soon my trials will be hard. It will all be worth it.

A girl in my tap class said something in her opening prayer the other day along these lines, and it stuck with me. She said, "Even though life is hard sometimes, we're grateful that we have it." So be happy. Life is wonderful, and we can be grateful for the hard times and rejoice.

1 comment:

Kimberlyjewel said...

This really struck me--and I'm not just saying it because I know you! I've been thinking about this a lot lately and have realized just how many things bring joy into my life. Of course we're faced with hard things in life, but they don't stop us from being truly joyful--at the very least they can't take away the joy we will receive in the end. Oftentimes, it's the hard things that bring us more joy than ever before--like the woman in the scripture you quoted having her baby. Thanks for sharing!!