Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 4:4-13
So though we did go to a couple of beaches, we didn’t experience perfect beach days. The conditions weren’t quite right. We didn’t have the right temperature, weather, water, odor or insect control. Now what do all those factors have in common? They were beyond our control. If our joy depended on those factors lining up, we couldn’t experience joy on those days. Yet isn’t that how some people live their lives today? Might some of you live like that? Maybe your happiness and joy depends on life going well. It’s understandable why we may choose to live like this. It is a lot easier to be happy and joyful in pleasant circumstances. But is joy only possible when life goes well? We all face hard things in our lives. We experience sickness, disappointment and challenging relationships. Dreams don’t work out like we hoped. Some event or experience doesn’t deliver what was promised. Some of you carry a constant burden. So if joy depends on life going like we want it to, we will seldom experience it.
