Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Bible in a Year Reading Plan: 2 Kings 16-20 | John 18

There are seasons in life when joy feels almost impossible to find. When the diagnosis doesn’t change, the relationship remains broken, or the prayers you’ve whispered for months still seem unanswered, it’s hard to imagine feeling anything other than disappointment. Sometimes, we become so focused on escaping our circumstances that we forget God can still meet us in the middle of them. 

In The Shawshank Redemption, we see a glimpse of what it means to hold onto hope in a place marked by suffering. However, this truth reaches far beyond a movie screen: our circumstances may limit our freedom, but they do not have to determine the condition of our hearts. 

James 1:2 
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 

Notice what this scripture doesn’t say. It doesn’t tell us to enjoy our pain, deny our disappointment, or pretend our struggles don’t hurt. Instead, it invites us to see our suffering through the lens of what God can produce in us through it.

Choosing joy doesn’t mean we stop grieving. It means grief doesn’t get the final word. It doesn’t mean anxiety disappears overnight. It means we keep bringing our anxious hearts to the one who promises to be near. It doesn’t mean we will understand why we’re walking through a difficult season. It means we trust that God is still at work, even when we cannot see it. 

Sometimes joy looks like worshipping through tears. Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed when yesterday took everything out of us. Sometimes it’s saying, “God, I don’t understand this, but I’m still trusting you.” Suffering does not have the authority to erase God’s faithfulness or cancel the hope we have in him. 

You don’t have to manufacture happiness to prove you have faith. You can acknowledge the pain and still believe that pain isn’t the end of your story. Joy is not the absence of suffering; it is the decision to keep trusting God in the middle of it. Whatever difficult place you find yourself in today, remember that you can be honest about how hard it is while remaining hopeful about who God is. The story isn’t over just because this chapter hurts.

Questions: 
Where in your life are you struggling to find joy because your circumstances haven’t changed?

What would it look like to trust God’s faithfulness without pretending your pain doesn’t exist? 

Next Steps: 
Identify one circumstance you’re facing. Write down one truth about God’s character you can hold on to in the middle of it. Return to that truth whenever discouragement tries to take over.

Practice gratitude in the hard place. Each day this week, write down one thing you can thank God for, even as you wait for your circumstances to change. Let gratitude remind you that hardship is real, but it isn’t the only thing happening in your story. 

Prayer: 
Father, you know the places in my life that hurt, the prayers that feel unanswered, and the burdens I have carried for far too long. Help me understand that choosing joy doesn’t mean denying my pain. Teach me to trust you in the middle of my circumstances, even when I cannot see a way forward. Remind me that suffering doesn’t have the final word, and give me the strength to keep hoping, the courage to keep believing, and the grace to take the step even when the road is difficult. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Series Theme Verse:

Acts 17:28
“For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” 

Written by Heaven Nash, a regular contributor to the Daily Devotional.