Thanksgiving. [where does joy come from?]

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations." ~Psalm 100:4-5

Thanksgiving and praise.
That's how we're supposed to enter the presence of our Lord.

"You have made known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11

In His presence comes fullness of joy which gives us Life.

"...the joy of the Lord is your strength." ~Nehemiah 8:10b

But sometimes it doesn't seem that easy.
Life gets hard.
Sometimes our hearts are heavy.
Sometimes our hearts are broken for an injustice we recognize either against us or someone else.
Sometimes we get angry and frustrated about these terrible things that really should not continue.
Sometimes it's easier to list everything going wrong.
Sometimes it's easier to be mad.
Sometimes when all these emotions are building up, we just need to cry.
Sometimes sorrow is present and we can't deny it.
That's okay.

We must give that sorrow and pain to Jesus, laying it at His feet.

"Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." ~Psalm 30:5 

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." ~Psalm 126:5

This is a promise.
Joy is our reward.
Thanksgiving is our anthem.

We always will have a reason to sing.

Suffering. [seeing the reason for pain]

What is the purpose of physical pain?
It's a warning signal, right? It means something is wrong with our body. Sometimes it's because we have eaten something bad. Sometimes it's because we did something not very smart that resulted in injury. Other times it's not our fault. We can pick up viruses from other people. We can be physically attacked by others. Some pain is caused intentionally; some is by accident.

I feel like it's a similar thing with pain on a larger scale: suffering in general. Except this time the cause is sin. This sin can be our own. Or it can be from someone else--intentional or not. "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23) What does "death" mean exactly? Could it be an absence of Life? This doesn't only mean physical death. It can mean any sort of absence of life: depression, illness, emotional, physical, or spiritual torment, etc.
Shouldn't we then recognize that if we see the latter present, there's a reason for it? Again, sometimes it is because of our own sin; many times it's because of someone else's sin. But it's a warning signal. Like physical pain, it shows that something's wrong.

I've been thinking a lot about why so much crap happens. People often seem to blame God for the suffering in our world saying, "If God is really good..why does life suck?"
I've certainly had my moments of asking the same question myself. But then I stop and think about the reason the pain is there.
It's a symptom.
Our world has denied its only true Life support system--our Creator--so no wonder its dying.

We cannot expect to have a perfect world from the perfect God unless that world is in complete submission to that perfect God. The beauty of the gospel is that He pierces through our dark rebellion to give us a glimpse of His light even though we as a world continue to deny Him.
His love is so strong that it cannot be stopped by an entire world that has chosen evil.
He still heals.
He still comforts.
He still restores.
He still redeems.
He still  makes beauty from ashes.
He still works everything for those who obey Him.

I am continually blown away by the way He turns everything into something good.
There is nothing that He does not use. Everything is an opportunity for Him to reveal His love more and more.

In the same way the bad is a symptom of sin, the good is a symptom of God's love--His overabundant bubbling brook of Goodness.
If we are going to blame Him for the evil that is a result of our sin, should we not even  more give Him credit for the blessings?

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17)

Why don't we spend  more time marveling in the gifts we have been given rather than wishing we were given the same gifts as other people?

What kind of a slap in the face to God is it to spend our lives complaining about the struggles instead of giving thanks for the growth that comes from them?