As our unwanted estrangement from each other continues to disrupt… well everything, where are you finding joy?
Christian joy, the second in the list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22, is one of those qualities which we so easily confuse with just an emotion. Happiness. Whilst happiness comes as a positive reaction to our circumstances and life’s roller coaster of events it can be as fleeting as blue sky breaks in the clouds on a blustery day or easy driving on an icy mountain road. I wonder, how often do we see our mood careering left and right across from morning until night as we attempt to hang on to our emotions?
On the other hand, joy welling up from a Christ-centred heart is described as our strength Nehemiah 8:10.
And Nehemiah continued,… “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Nehemiah 8:10b
That fact on its own is surely a great reassurance as nothing which brings true strength can be temporary. If it were then where would reliability be? Nevertheless, if that joy decays, then just like failing steel reinforcement in concrete, the whole structure becomes weakened and could fail without warning. Where then does this leave us when joy can seem so elusive?
Brother Lawrence, in his experiences over 300 years ago, wrote that he lived by finding joy through the most simple of actions. He diligently chose at any point in the day to seek God’s presence and in doing so found joy.
“… I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, … or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with GOD, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly”
The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
The key to his continued inward joy and outward visible happiness came from his determination to be alongside God whenever possible, to seek Him in the mundane places as well as the holy.
He pursued God in such a 24-7 manner that he even wrote “It isn’t necessary that we stay in church in order to remain in God’s presence. We can make our hearts personal chapels where we can enter anytime to talk to God privately.”
You know, I think he might just be onto something there.
And My House 