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Well, I have a confession to make, and the confession is that I think I complain way more than I ever should! I’m sure I am not alone. I would ask you how much is complaint; how much is grumbling a normal part of your world of talk? How dissatisfied are you, how discontent are you, is doubt of God a struggle for you?

Maybe the way that I should ask this is, “Do you live with joy?” I’m not talking about that temporary, situational happiness when you’ve just had a great meal, or somebody’s given you a great compliment, or some situation has worked the way you want it to.

I’m talking about something deeper and fuller than that. What I want to look at with you as we continue in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1:9, about joy that is there no matter what. Talking about God’s work in our lives, Peter says this, I’ll start with verse 8, “Though we have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” Inexpressible and filled with glory! Wouldn't you like this kind of life?

And wouldn't every human being say, “I want to wake up with joy so deep I can't express it; joy that is glorious?” I mean, it's the life that somehow all of us dream of. It's the kind of joy when you've been given the best gift ever, one that you know can change your life, and you stand there and you say you're so filled with something deep inside of you, what you say is, “I don't know what to say.” You are literally unable to express what's inside of you.

Now maybe this will shock you. Peter’s arguing that that should be a normal experience for a believer; that there's something deep and beautiful that should root inside of us; that a bad day, a disappointment, a hardship in a relationship, a rebellious child, a cantankerous boss, traffic, should not be able to take away from us.

And so, the question that this begs for us is, “Where do I get this kind of joy?” He says this, “…you believe in him and rejoice with an inexpressible joy, one that's filled with glory, because (Now listen to this.) you're obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (Paraphrase.) He's saying this, “You have that joy when you realize the thing in life you most need, the thing in life that most human beings need, the ultimate gift of giving that needs to be given, I have been given.”

Something I could have never earned and never deserved is now mine simply because God has placed His love on me. It's like being born into an ultimately rich family. You've done nothing, but you have lavish possibilities in front of you because you've been born into something that you could have never deserved, never earned, never achieved. And so, you get up every morning and you say, “I've got it. I've got the best thing ever. I may not have a lot of money. I may not have a lot of friends. I may not even have physical health, but I've got the best thing ever.” Put it on a 3 x 5 card and stick it on your mirror in the morning so you see it every morning, “I have been given, in Jesus, the best thing ever, the salvation of my soul.”

And when you wake up in the morning and say, “No matter what's going on, I've been given the best thing ever,” you'll have joy!