A little more than two years ago, ‘Joy’ became my constant companion rather than an occasional acquaintance. This was totally unexpected and more than a little remarkable. Many times in my life I had experienced Joy dropping in, ’surprising me’, and then leaving…sometimes within a couple days, but usually within hours or minutes. I loved the visits but instinctively knew that Joy must have other (probably better) things to do but had stopped by long enough to bless me with a touch of encouragement in a difficult time, or a taste of something wonderful when the world seemed particularly grey and flavorless. Usually the sudden presence of Joy had no rhyme or reason, at least, not that I could tell…a surprise visitor who was always welcome, slept in the guest bedroom and was normally gone before the first light of day, bed made up, a note that said ‘thank you’ and 'see you again soon’.
"But to ‘move in’ and stay…that was unexpected. For the first six months I was a little on edge about the whole ‘new’ relationship. It seemed that it would be rather rude to simply ask, "Okay, why exactly are you still here?" Perhaps, I was a little apprehensive that such a question would remind Joy that there were more important things to do than hang around me, and off Joy would go. But I liked it…the presence of Joy…a lot!
"A couple years ago . . . here is what I discovered. JOY has a name. Joy is not only a fruit of the Spirit of God, but a manifestation of the presence of the very ‘real’ Jesus who dwells inside of us. In fact, JOY had ‘never’ left me at all; it was me that continually left Joy, to run into some imagined future and resultant fear. It had never been Joy that was the occasional acquaintance…it was me that had been the visitor.
"I read Joy’s blog the other day, and it began…'A couple years ago Paul became my constant companion rather than an occasional acquaintance…' Sweeeeeet!"
The above is from the blog "Wind Rumors," the official site of William Paul Young, the author of the Shack. This is not the entire essay (www.windrumors.com) but you can access it yourself.
I love this essay. And as we have pursued the topic of joy this week, it came to my mind and I wanted to share it with you. You really need to read the whole thing; he has an amazing thought process, and a gift for words!
The purpose of me sharing this with you today is to pose a radical question: How can you say you have God, but do not have joy? Because what I'm reading in my Bible is that joy automatically comes with God. "Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God." Psalm 43:4
You take in God, you take in joy. Sure, I know there are seasons of grief in our lives. The Bible even talks about it - for example, Jeremiah 31:13: "I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow." God knows. He knows we'll have times of mourning. Yet He still promises Himself; He still promises His joy.
It's a choice, yeah? Choose Him - Choose Joy. If you don't have joy, it's time to take a hard firm look at yourself and say, why am I choosing to shut out joy? It's like we open the door for Christ but try to shut it really fast before any of His pesky characteristics come in and rub off on us. Let me be direct - if you are doing that, you are breaking His commandments AND you are negating His will and His purpose for your life.
So Choose Him. Choose Joy. Choose Life!
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