Skip to main content

Finding Joy

              In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (I Peter 1:6-7)

             fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

             And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Yes, again.

            The devotional I seem to be peaking at has to do with joy. We often think of joy, as we do of love, as being felt. We fall into it and out of it – and seemingly, somehow, mostly out. We don’t think of it as something we can influence or choose. We’re like Anne of Avonlea, on Mount Everest one moment, and at the bottom of the Marianas Trench the next. And the midst of being tossed hither and thither by the waves of emotion, we look down our noses at the Pollyannas of this world, who seem to miss out on both extremes, but maintain a status quo of general positivity. (I wonder, could that status quo be the sort of peace Jesus talked about?)

            Today’s verses suggest a different line of thinking. It doesn’t pretend that everything’s wonderful. It recognizes that right now may be difficult, but it also works on faith in a positive future – also known as hope. I’ve said many times that when we are stressed or hurt, our universe shrinks down to the size and shape of the pain and its cause. To have joy in our lives, we have to choose to look beyond that to a positive future. We may not even know what that positive future might look like, but at the very least, we need to be willing to look for its vague outline.

            A friend shared a quote that gives me a sense of direction for when I’m struggling:

"Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—'I am of no use where I am,' because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray." (Oswald Chambers, So Send I You)

This may not be a solution for everything or everyone, but for someone who is more focused on activity than on people, it may be a step forward. I’ve been telling folks that homesteading is doing what you can with what you have where you are. Dallas Willard has referred to doing the “next good thing,” and I’ve referred to doing the “obvious.” When I am overwhelmed or depressed, I tend to see no way forward, but maybe that’s because I’m supposed to do what I can, where I am, with what I have. Maybe the way to joy is to be where we are.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more