Eeyore and Joy

         Eeyore is a character in “Winnie the Pooh” books. He is a donkey that is never very happy about anything but instead is pessimistic and seems to be greatly depressed about almost everything. I can't say that I have ever met a person whose character would fit that of Eeyore but some may come close to it. There was a time in my life during my year of study at Indiana University when I was in a fit of depression. It was my first time away from home and all of the attachments that went along with my life in Rolling Prairie. It was a part of growing up but maybe I didn't want to grow up. We can't stay in any age for very long and then it is time to move on. You have a lot of periods of graduation from kindergarten, from sixth grade, from junior high, from high school and for some, even graduation from college all the way up to even getting a doctorate degree in something. Life doesn't seem to be stagnant but moves on. James 1:2 says, “ Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

         This is a familiar verse but certainly not the only one that speaks about joy in the life of the believer. The word “joy” and its associated words such as rejoice, rejoiced and rejoicing appear over 400 times in the bible, 80 plus times in the Book of Psalms and fourteen times in the Book of Philippians. Joy, then should be one of the characteristics of the Christian life and probably just the opposite of the little donkey, Eeyore. Joy is one of the things that people look for and want to possess and so try many different ways to achieve it. The pursuit of happiness seems to be centered on the acquiring of things but they often end up with the same void as they had before the got the new home, car, computer, or the new cordless drill. In a short time, they are right back to where they were and again look for something to fill the void in their lives. In this verse, one is to “consider” joy when he or she is faced with trials in their lives, and who isn't without trials of one sort or another even many at the same time. We all are faced with them, some big, some small and some that seem to be overwhelming. James then says, “in light of these trials just consider joy.” The Book of Psalms does use one of the words here and there over 80 different times. It usually uses the word to “rejoice.” While Eeyore is depressed about almost everything, we can be rejoicing about everything. Let us be reminded that First Thessalonians 5:16 tells us to “rejoice always.” That leaves nothing out, even the bad things. You can be like Eeyore and be saying, “Oh dear” time and time again, or you can rejoice in what God is doing in your life in this very moment and what He will be doing in the moments to come. There are no accidents or surprises to God and so everything does have a purpose. I don't think that most people enjoy trials and we have a tendency to wish for better circumstances but God is working in your life and you will come out of it for the better as you grow in your spiritual life. Praise God that He is still working on us all.