Have you ever heard the argument that the war on drugs is pointless, that we spend too much money on it; that we should just give it up because we’ll never win?
Personally, I think that’s a bit irresponsible. Have we become so first world, so conditioned to our cushy lives that we only fight battles on the basis of whether they can be won? No, we fight battles because they are right, they are moral; they are necessary. We fight against drugs, because we have to! We have to keep trying; we have to save some. We just have to keep pressing on.
The same is true in our personal lives. Some of you are fighting battles that you may never win. Yes, I know, that doesn’t sound too encouraging. However, that doesn’t mean you give up. No, on the contrary, that means you press into that thing or that issue that you just can’t seem to break through. Sometimes you will fight a problem or an issue your entire life and you’ll never beat it. I know that sounds pretty depressing, but that might be the reality. Here is the good news, there’s still joy to be had. James Chapter 1 tells us that we can count our trials as joy. How does that happen?
Trials turn to joy when we realize that we don’t own them. Jesus tells us to cast all our cares on him, he said to give our problems to him because his load is light…and he’s got some really big shoulders. There is worship and joy and peace to be had in the midst of our trials. As we begin to release them to God, our problems might not disappear, but we will gain a heavenly perspective…and often times, that’s even better than if they were gone!
