Toweling off the tux

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. — 1 Peter 1:6

So, how sweaty was the groom some thirty minutes before the wedding? Well, he used a full-sized towel to mop his upper body.

If asked years from now what the weather was like on the day he married, the groom will likely answer with accuracy that it was rainy up until the ceremony of the outdoor wedding. The late summer humidity and the mopping part? Honestly, I think he’ll forget about it. Or, more accurately, it will be a detail that never matters because he’s in love. The day was grand. The ceremony was meaningful. The reception was joyful.

There are details we forget when it comes to joy because the details are just that—marginal, irrelevant, unmemorable.

Peter understands this. Sure, there are incidents. Yes, there are moments. The trials he mentions are real. But they become overshadowed, unfocused details that make the main part of the story all the more meaningful.

First century Christians truly had challenges. Peter addresses these followers who experienced great strife, calamity and even death because of their faith. They were persecuted. But joy? (Actually, Peter calls this wonderful joy.) This was theirs. They saw it coming before it arrived, and, like the groom I mention, they just kept moving toward the greatest love they will ever know. This is the inseparable love of being with Jesus forever.

We do go through trials as Christians. It’s true. But joy? It’s ours! It is ours! This Jesus love thing? Ask a couple who is in love about love and they’ll say it is everything.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you again and again for providing wonderful joy ahead. Amen.