I love going to church! I love seeing all the young people around me! I sit in the back and rejoice watching those up-front leaping and jumping for joy during the song service. It makes my heart leap along with them (since my body can no longer leap or jump)!
I post a daily JOYbook quote on Facebook. It can be a quote that is serious, funny, or thought-provoking. One recent quote was … “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]
There have been times that I have been discouraged with life, hurting physically or emotionally…any hosts of differing emotions on Sunday mornings. I would wake up and all I would want to do was sit in my recliner and feel sorry for myself. Instead, I would head to church.
There I found joy. I found it in the smiles of others. I found it in the hugs. I found it in the concern expressed by people I know and love. I found it in the music. I found it in the message. I found it in the presence of God.
Joy. Nehemiah 8:10 is a familiar verse regarding joy. “The Joy of the LORD is our strength.”
The Holman translations renders it this way, “The Joy of the LORD is our stronghold.”
The word for strength/stronghold is maoz/mauz and it means “a place or means of safety, protection.”
As I read that this morning, I realized that Joy is more than just an interior reaction to the Presence of God, no matter how wonderful that is. Joy is also that place of ultimate protection and safety … safety from the wiles of the enemy … safety even from my own distresses and emotions.
God Be Praised!
