“This life is not all there is.
Your poverty is not permanent.
Your hunger will be satisfied.
Your sorrow will turn to joy.
And your rejection will turn to reward.” - Tony Walliser
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!” Take note—your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets
- Luke 6:20-23 HCSB
I like leaping for joy.
In fact, if there’s one thing dogs do well, it’s celebrating.
We celebrate breakfast.
We celebrate supper.
We celebrate when our humans come home after being gone for seventeen minutes.
We even celebrate finding that same tennis ball we’ve misplaced twelve times.
So when my human read where Jesus said, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,” I figured I had that part covered.
Then I noticed something.
Jesus wasn’t talking about joyful days.
He was talking about hard days.
That changed everything.
The lesson started one rainy afternoon.
My human sat quietly by the window reading his Bible.
Usually, he scratches my ears while he reads, but this day his hand rested still on my head.
I could tell something was weighing on his heart.
Now, when something hurts me, I have a simple strategy.
I limp dramatically.
I look pitiful.
I position myself where everyone can see my suffering.
It’s quite effective.
But my human was different.
He wasn’t pretending things were fine, yet there was a peace about him that didn’t make sense.
Later I heard him read aloud:
“We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance”
- Romans 5:3 HCSB.
Rejoice in afflictions?
That’s not how dogs usually operate.
Then I remembered all the times my human had cared for me.
The trips to the veterinarian I didn’t enjoy.
The medicine I didn’t want.
The restrictions that kept me from chasing things I shouldn’t chase.
None of those moments felt good at the time, but they came from someone who loved me.
Maybe that’s what Jesus was teaching.
The people He spoke to were poor, hungry, grieving, and rejected.
Yet He called them blessed because their story wasn’t ending with their pain.
God’s promises were bigger than their present struggles.
That’s true for believers today.
Sometimes life hurts.
Bodies grow weak.
Relationships break.
Prayers seem delayed.
Hearts ache.
Yet God’s children have something suffering cannot steal.
We have Christ.
We have His presence.
We have His promises.
And we have a reward waiting beyond anything this world can offer.
As my human closed his Bible, he smiled and rubbed behind my ears.
The circumstances around him hadn’t changed.
But his focus had.
And that’s when this old dog understood:
Joy isn’t pretending pain doesn’t exist.
Joy is trusting that God is still working, still loving, and still holding us even when life hurts.
That’s enough to make a believer—and maybe even a dog—leap for joy.
Prayer: Lord, when life hurts, help us look beyond our present troubles and fix our eyes on Your eternal promises. Fill our hearts with the joy that comes from knowing You, trusting You, and resting in Your unfailing love. Amen.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
