Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:14-15
This week, I experienced the heartbreak of finding out that someone from my previous church shared the details of my final sermon. I will not hide from the fact that I said things I wish I wouldn't have said. As I have written in other blogs, I was hurting, scared, and angry. None of which excuse, or condone my actions. In my weakness, I sinned. This sin has been cited as the reason to be temporarily disqualified from being viewed for a ministry position. I could spend the entirety of the blog writing about how I didn't get to share my side of the story or attempt to justify why I failed in the first place.
However, something kept coming to my mind as I rode home after hearing that the job I was basing my future on had fallen through. The truth is, how I present my faith during this season of my life will go a long way in whether or not people see that I genuinely believe in what I claim is my faith. I have a responsibility in this season of my life to ensure that you all know that I have never wavered in claiming the goodness of God. Never for a second have I considered leaving the faith I have in Jesus.
Regardless of whether people gossip about me or try to unfairly label me, the truth is that I have great joy. I may not be happy all the time. I may not know where life is going. I may never again be offered a vocational ministry position. But, regardless of any of these truths, I know a greater source of joy.
I know that Jesus came to this Earth. He experienced temptation, rejection, pain, sorrow, jealousy, anger, and anything else we experience. He even prayed that God would consider a different way for His story to end. Yet, where you and I fall short, Jesus remained sinless. He became everything we couldn't be and traded places with us on the judgment seat. My friends that gives each of us a reason to have joy no matter how our lives look.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us remember the joy that Jesus gives to each of us. As one of my favorite hymns says, "I know who holds the future and life is worth the living, just because He lives." Life is full of storms, and how we deal with them shows the world whether we genuinely believe the message of the Bible. Christians, rise up and share with the world that regardless of anything this life can throw at us, we will always have the joy of the Lord.