Since arriving back in Bots in January, there has been an underlying theme of my life...JOY. Though it is not something I necessarily always have, there has been this insatiable desire growing deep within to really understand how to truly obtain it. I NEED joy and my guess is so do you. Now, I am not talking about sunshine and flowers kind joy, I am talking about the kind of Joy that can be my strength when challenges come, the kind of Joy that will steady and sustain me and cause me to walk in faith and hope in otherwise hopeless situations. I have desperately needed it and thus have begun a deeper pursuit of the source of all my Joy. (Psalm 43:4). Through the consistency of the gentle, yet powerful Holy Spirit, God's Word, not to mention a little help from my beloved friend Bo Stern's, The Joy Project, I am learning to live it out. I have discovered a few things about this treasure that is found in the JOY of the Lord and wanted to encourage you that you too can walk in true joy. Things have not been easy in the past few months to say the least but God's delightful Joy has kept me.
A few words on TRUE JOY...
When circumstances demand despair, this kind of Joy remains.
It is only found in God's Presence.
It is a CHOICE made from your will not your emotions.
God causes it to well up from the deepest places in your heart, in the most unlikely moments.
It purely reflects, as in a mirror, the goodness of God.
It restores a weary soul.
It's contagious.
It will make you laugh, and sometimes cry “happy tears.”
It steadies you.
It's always available.
This JOY well will never run dry.
Over the past few months when I have been...
exhausted,
robbed,
internally weary,
dealing with naughty students,
discouraged,
carrying burdens,
facing impossible circumstances,
aching deep within,
...God's JOY has faithfully had the last word each time.
I find myself utterly humbled by a God who delivers TRUE Joy when it is needed most.
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