Hope of Gladness

This morning as I read in Proverbs, a verse stood out to me which I had never taken the time to really think about before.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

Proverbs 10:28

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness… I could tell by the way the phrase grabbed my attention that the Holy Spirit was quickening it to my heart, that is, showing me that this particular truth was what I needed today. I wasn’t exactly sure how to apply it… a couple of obvious doctrinal applications came to mind, but to my shame, I must admit that I didn’t take time to think it through right then. In fact, I found myself rushing to get ready for church, then rushing from ministry to ministry all morning. It wasn’t until during the sermon that it finally clicked. 

I had one of those thoughts pop up as I was listening to the sermon… you know, those sparks of discontentment which if given any fuel at all spread into a full-blown forest fire in no time. Anyway, the thought occurred, and as I took a deep breath preparing for battle, the verse came to mind again.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness… I realized what it was that the Holy Spirit was teaching me. At that particular moment, doing battle with my own thoughts and emotions, I wasn’t happy. The hope that I had was not that I would never experience unhappiness, but rather that the way to gladness was in responding to the unhappiness in a righteous (Christ-like) way. I can trust that no matter what difficulty or unhappiness God allows, He has already promised to help me through it, and He will give me grace and strength to fight off the ungratefulness of discontentment so that I can return to the gladness He desires me to enjoy -the gladness that comes from stopping Satan’s fiery darts of discontent with the inflammable and impervious shield of faith.

Isn’t it amazing how God gives us exactly what we need when we need it? This truth helped me to get the spark extinguished before it had a chance to spread, and instead of having a crummy, emotional, depressing day, I had quite a happy one! This all reminded me of the promise in I Corinthians 10:13

“God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Praise the Lord for His faithful love!