You can enjoy your life despite challenges and trials; you can be free from sorrows and regrets. How? "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil 4:4). Joy is the key to enjoying life. Joy will always bring enjoyment. There is no situation you cannot survive in life if you are joyous. Joy is the tonic of life. It is an invisible motivator. Whatever steals your joy has defeated you.

Life is not about what happens to you but how you react or respond to what happens to you. We all encounter challenges in life. As a matter of fact if there were no challenges, life would be stagnant. If there were no hurdles to cross there would be no attainments in life. It is your reaction to challenges and trials that determine your outcome in life. This is why people who see life as a burden remain on the same spot, while those who approach life with a positive attitude live as if they have no problems.

James 1:2 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations..." Even when you are faced with challenges, rejoice! Count it all joy because there is always something beyond the crucible of life, there is something beyond your challenges. Verse 2 and 3 says, "...The trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." When you rejoice in the face of challenges, your ultimate outcome is perfection. Whatever you are going through now is only a passage. Passages lead to destinations.

The reason many people are not joyful is because they concentrate on what is happening around them and are overly carried away by their present challenges. But 2 Corinthians 4:17 says that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (NIV). Challenges are temporal. Don't look at where you are now; it is only a waste of time. Look at where you are going, get excited about today because you have a glorious future. All things are working together for your good (Romans 8:28).