BOUNDLESS
Prayer: Boundless is Your great love for me, Oh Lord. I am grateful. I will love You until I die. Amen
Scripture: I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. 2 Corinthians 7:4 NIV
Boundless – never-ending, limitless, infinite. Certainly Paul had had more than his share of troubles, more than many of us believe that we could ever survive, but his joy was boundless. There is a stress test given by doctors to compute your stress level and possible need for treatment or therapy. Perhaps you have seen it. It asks the question, “Of the following circumstances, which have you experienced in the past twelve months?” The circumstances include change of job, change of marital status, moving, health problems, friend or family death, etc.
There was one year in which I suffered a reoccurring brain tumor, and treatments for it have had long-lasting effects on my health. I had lost a dear friend to brain cancer and another to suicide. My husband was serving in the military reserves, and we lived with the possibility that he would be sent to war. That year we also moved and I had to leave friends, staff and church that I loved and counted on daily. I am sure I am forgetting something, but you get the picture. That year I would have sent one of those stress tests through the roof – a sure candidate for treatments of some kind.
I would love to be able to tell you that I have faced every trouble with boundless joy – but I cannot. I stood firm and faithful through it all until I had to face the move. There is nothing fun about selling your home. It sounds ridiculous. You would think that one of the earlier troubles would have been the clincher, but with the pressure of this move I allowed my stress to battle my joy. When I fell apart, Satan took full advantage of my trouble and my attitude of joy turned rotten and weak. The worst part was not the short-term loss of focus on my joy, but the long-term beating up on myself afterwards for my lack of strength.
You will face many troubles this year and throughout your life. You may be stronger than you ever imagined through the tough times, and you may find your limit in the most unexpected circumstance.
The lessons I learned were to hold tight to what I know that I know. God is in control, and He loves me. Furthermore, I learned that I am still human and by readjusting my focus and attitude, I am assured that my God is boundless. My joy is of and from Him. Therefore, my joy also is boundless. I need to choose to focus and feed off my joy, not my stress. Finally, my short-term troubles are always a great reminder of the strength of my long-term Lord. In Him our joy is boundless.
Copyright Kathy Branzell. Email [email protected]