Father, Your word promises joy when we meet trials of various kinds. You promise a joy that is so counterintuitive and so precious that it is a supernatural gift.
We confess that joy has been the furthest thing on our minds when we face trials of any kind. We confess that we look for escape rather than look to You. We confess that we don’t fully trust You to produce good things out of our pain.
Lord, forgive us for being people of little faith. Forgive us for yielding to the temptations in our tests and for even soothing our flesh with sin. Forgive us for choosing the easy road while procrastinating or rejecting Your calling which involves hardship.
Help us, O God, to count it all joy in our trials. Let the testing produce steadfastness. Let the steadfastness have its full effect, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. We pray and ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
