Joy Unspeakable

Ok I just want to say that starting this study through Rand Hummel’s book has been really helpful. Rand has such a way of pointing out things that I would never see and putting stuff in ways that make me see the verses differently.

As I was reading the I Peter book a something jumped out at me that I didn’t see when I was memorizing it. In chap 1 verse 8 it says “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Well when I was memorizing this verse it did strike me funny that Peter said joy so many times in one verse, yet I didn’t really think anything more about it. But when I was reading the verse again in the I Peter book, Rand pointed it out too. In verse 6 it says “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” Ok so in the course of 2 verse Peter uses the word joy 3 times. So obviously he wants to get the point of being joyful across.

Ok so yeah I am supposed to be joyful, but what exactly does that mean? When I think of being joyful generally I think of being really really happy, like almost jumping up and down happy (e.g. getting done with the ACT lol). But when you are in “manifold temptations” (at least for me) I don’t feel jumping up and down happy. Yet he says we are supposed to rejoice through manifold temptations. So I looked up the definition of joy, it is “a state of happiness or felicity: a source or cause of delight.” The part of this definition that hit me was the “a source or cause of delight.” Ok so I know that Christ is to be my source of happiness and delight, but then again when I am going through hard times I don’t exactly feel the exuberant kind of joy.

But then back in the I Peter book Rand made a very interesting statement, he said that “joy is holy optimism.” Well, at least for me, that put a whole new idea to the word joy. Joy doesn’t necessarily have to be a happiness that makes you want to jump up and down, but it’s knowing that God has complete control of the situation. So while the “manifold temptation” may not be very enjoyable, you can have joy, in the sense that you can have a good attitude about the trial you are going through. So when Peter was talking about joy he was talking about having a good attitude and being “happy” through trials, because He will always be there to help you through the “season”.

Ok so now that I have written another book, I’ll quit babbling lol
I hope ya’ll are learning as much as I am!
Love in Christ,
Kristin Hanson