It occurs to me as I write this week's blog just how little I know. I'm not a theologian, or a Biblical scholar, or a preacher. I'm just a simple girl in the Midwest who is consistently overwhelmed with God's love. To narrow down the gifts of God, the gifts of Easter, into a week-long devotional seems simple and silly. I know there is so much more to it!
Yet the simpleness of it all is part of the gift. I don't have to be a learned scholar to understand that our joy is made complete because of Christ's sacrifice during this Easter week. Yet when I stick the word "joy" in the Biblegateway.com search, there are over 56 references to joy in Psalms alone!
So what makes me think that joy is a gift of Easter? Because I find verses like this in Isaiah: "Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you (12:5-6)." Or this in 26:19: "But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead."
Because of the promise of resurrection, there will be a day when dead bodies will rise, shake off their dust, and shout for joy. Let me rephrase: shout for joy!!!! There's a part of me that is full of joy for what God has done for me now. But I truly don't think I will understand complete joy until that day.
I also find many, many references to God taking away our joy; I wonder, how can that be possible? But I believe that there are times when God takes away joy as we know it here, so that we may experience it fully on that day. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
I marvel at the joy of the women at the tomb on that third day. Matthew 28 shares it this way: "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you.' So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. 'Greetings,' he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him."
They were afraid, yet filled with joy. Joy is a choice, not a happenstance. I kind of think that the joy we often think of, the joy that God at times takes away, is not true joy. It is a circumstantial happiness that occurs when everything is going our way. True joy dares to hope, as the women did at the tomb. True joy trusts in the face of fear. True joy lives despite the threat of death. True joy believes that all things work together for God's purpose.
I was reading this week about Rich Mullins, and I found the following quote from him in an interview. He had been with a woman for ten years, and was engaged to her, when she called it off. His viewpoint of how that all turned out is quite interesting: "....And it was just a few years ago that I finally realized that friendship is not a remedy for loneliness. Loneliness is a part of our experience and if we are looking for relief from loneliness in friendship, we are only going to frustrate the friendship. Friendship, camaraderie, intimacy, all those things, and loneliness live together in the same experience... I have no interest in anybody else and she is married to someone else so that's the way it goes and I don't mind that. Right now I cannot imagine that life could be happier married than it is single so I'm not in a panic about getting married. And I think, you know, maybe God wanted me to be celibate and the way that he accomplished that was to break my heart. So that's the way it goes."
God broke his heart . . . and out of that arose true joy. Look up his bio at wikipedia.com for more information about his amazing life and ministry.
Are you willing to have bad times in order to have joy? Are you willing to surrender yourself to God, knowing that He may break your heart, so that you can experience His joy, true joy? How much are you willing to trust Him? That's really the lesson of joy at Easter. It took breaking everyone's hearts to receive the true joy. It took the ultimate sacrifice to bring the ultimate joy.
I enjoy hearing from you. Let me know how you are doing, if you think of it! See you tomorrow.
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