"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasure for evermore." Psalm 16:11
I have to admit, joy is not the first emotion I feel right now. Yesterday morning, I awoke to the sound of my goat crying. Heading outside, I noticed that her mate was nowhere to be seen. I gathered my boys to go look for him and what they saw was the gruesome sight of my buck; legless, ripped apart and very much dead.
This little goat was given to me by my sister and in an effort to not let the coyotes come back for the pregnant momma goat, several of my children and I spent the night on our trampoline, scooted strategically near the goat pasture. This settled down the momma goat, but I spent a sleepless night, listening for the sound of coyotes and sliding into an ever tighter heap of children in the middle of the trampoline.
So the emotion I feel right now is mostly mind numbing exhaustion, mixed with a bit of worry about what to do with the goat tonight.
How do we stay joyful in the midst of exhaustion? My son is an inspiration to me in this area. He is nearly always happy and even tempered, but it is no mystery to me how he stays this way. His spare time is nearly always spent worshipping God. Whether he is playing along to worship music on his cajon, playing the guitar or streaming music, he has been graced with an understanding of where to find joy.
I hope I can learn from him and I pray that God gives me the same heavenly hunger for finding joy in Him. When I am tired and struggling for joy, I try to find it in a myriad of less fulfilling ways. Organizing a closet, checking FB or eating some chocolate are often my natural, if generally unfulfilling, responses.
However, deep joy will not be found in any of these mostly harmless pursuits. If we want to be full of the joy that will sustain us through trying times, the best way to find it is to go directly to God through worship and His word.
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Yes, joy is found in Christ. One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 30. "Weeping may come for the night, but joy comes with the morning."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder. I too am writing about joy for this challenge and the most sure place to find it is in God's word.
ReplyDeleteYes. I, too, tend to look for things that are more of a distraction than a source of satisfaction. I need to remember to turn to God for joy and satisfaction.
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