Identify the area in your life where you are experiencing despair, and ask three questions. First, are you inward focused? Second, are you going through it alone? Third, are you allowing God to use your despair for ministry to others? Your answers are most likely, "Yes," "Yes," and "No." In the first eleven verses of Philippians, Paul introduced a paradigm shift from despair to joy amidst suffering. The theme of his letter helps us answer one of the most life changing questions of all. Is it possible to experience joy, to take pleasure in Christ, even when we suffer?