Faith That Endures The Fire

You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1544. Today's TiVo is called Faith that Endures the Fire. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Thursday. Welcome back to my morning Devotional podcast. My name is Rachelle Alessi and I am so glad that I got to be with you guys this week. We still have one more episode tomorrow, but I've loved this week and I'm a little rusty because again, I was out for a couple of months because I had my second baby. So forgive me as I'm getting back into this, but I'm really excited about this week's theme of perseverance and endurance because this is something that every Christian has to exercise every single day of their life. And today's episode is a special one for me because I love this verse. And mostly recently because we went through something really hard as a family and I couldn't find the joy or considered it Joy. And James 1, 2, 4 says, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. On Monday we read James 1:12 that said, blessed is the one who perseveres under trials. And today we're saying, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. You know, recently I mentioned as a family we went through something really, really hard. Probably one of the hardest challenges that we've had to not just overcome, but face. And I was on a Sunday service here at our church and a beautiful song came called Consider It All Joy that my sister in law actually wrote, Stephanie Muno, who you hear here on a regular basis, and she wrote this beautiful song that goes, consider it all joy. Consider it all joy. He's my joy. And as I was sitting there and I worship every Sunday, I almost felt like I couldn't even sing those words. It felt so wrong for me to be singing those words after what we were facing. And it felt so wrong because I'm like, how could I even sing that right now? Honestly, there is zero joy in this situation. And I Can't consider this joy. This is wrong for me to say consider it all joy in this moment feels wrong. And it was probably one of the biggest testers of my faith. Because in that moment, I'm sitting there and I'm honestly not even worshiping, guys, I couldn't sing those words out loud. I could not say those words out loud. It felt so wrong for me to say that this situation. I had to consider all joy. And I came back to this verse because I know the verse that she got this song inspired from. And I finished it for my brothers and sisters. Whenever you face trials of many kinds. Of many kinds. And that just hit me in the face so hard, guys, because this was a different kind of trial. It was probably the worst trial that I could see and face. And I had to have the faith to say, I still have to bless the Lord through this. And it feels so wrong to say. I have to consider this pure joy. Consider it pure joy. But I have to trust the Lord. And the crazy thing is that when I went back home and I'm wrestling in my spirit with this song and this verse, with this situation, with this, this kind of trial, and I had to say, lord, I even surrender that to you. And I will consider it joy. Maybe not right now, but I will not let anything keep me from blessing your name. Because the Lord is omniscient and he knows it all. He knows the things that we don't know. And, guys, it's even harder for me to comprehend still. I'm going to work. This went out with you right here. The Lord is sovereign. And that right there, I was like, I have to surrender this to the Lord. Even this, I have to surrender to the Lord. And I know some of you are going through some really hard trials and different kind of trials and things that you never thought you would face. The hardest, the most painful, hurtful thing that could have happened to you. And I am really sorry. The Lord did not cause it. The Lord didn't just allow it to teach you something. Sometimes when we go to some of those things, I cannot even say what it is for. It's almost cruel to try to jump to the conclusion of what it's for. And I'm really sorry you're going through that. But what I do know is that the Lord is sovereign and he knows it all. And let that be your comfort today. And consider it, joy. Maybe not right now, but in the future you will, because the Lord will use this to produce perseverance. This might be a testing of your Faith. Not because the Lord allowed it to test your faith, but because the Lord will use it still. He won't let it go to waste. He will redeem it. And in that we will find some joy. Maybe not right now, but in the future we will considering it all joy. Because the Lord will redeem it and he will use that to produce perseverance. And so I will leave you with this. I've asked our team to put the link of a beautiful worship set that our church had recently. It was a live set. It's already up on our YouTube and I want you guys to go listen to it. In there is actually the song that my sister in law wrote. Consider it all joy. And it's a beautiful, beautiful set. It's not just that song, but that song is in there. And I want you to go back after this, play that YouTube video. Worship the Lord, guys. Even if it feels wrong to say certain words, persevere through, persevere through and worship him and say those words considering all joy. Even if you don't think this situation has any joy. I promise you that if you persevere by worshiping the Lord with these words, he will wash over you. He will give you a new strength and peace. And even if you still don't understand, you will feel him and he will come for you. So we will put that so you can hear it. And when you do, write on the comments what the Lord told you, what you felt when you worshiped the Lord through the hard trial. We want to hear from you. And I know that the song will be a blessing to you. So let's pray. Dear Father God, we bless you today Lord, because you are sovereign, you're omniscient, you know it all, Lord. Even the things that we don't understand. Lord, you do. And we might not understand now, it might take us 10 years or we might never know the answer of why. But what we do know today is that you are faithful. You have the power to redeem. You have the power to give us everything that the enemy has stolen. Father, you are with us and you love us and you will not let us suffer for a long time. And even in this suffering, you are producing something beautiful in us. This won't be a waste of time. This trial and these feelings won't be just a waste. It won't be the end of us. Because you are in it. And you will make something beautiful of it. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.