Joy is the settled
assurance that God is in control of all the details in our lives, the quiet confidence that everything is
going to be alright, and the determined
choice to praise God in all things.
With this newly discovered definition so many verses now ring true when
studying Scripture. Jesus’ earthly walk
was set in place before His precious head lay in the manger. By the time Jesus had to face the cross, He had
a settled assurance that His Father was in control of the cross…a quiet
confidence that He would be reunited with God … a determined choice to praise
Him from the crossbeams. He hung between
two other crosses, one bearing sarcasm and cynicism, ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save
yourself and us!’ Luke 23:39, the other bearing choice and hope ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom’ Luke 23:42.
We all are situated between sarcasm and certainty when
facing challenging circumstances. We
have the choice to approach our difficult seasons with negativity instead of
faith and hope in the future. It is up
to us as to how we respond in our suffering.
Do we look to our companion of sarcasm and discouragement or do with
participate with Christ in praising God from the crossbeams?
We have all been given a race to run with parallel lanes
that offer pain and joy. They run side
by side all the way to heaven. There is
a balance in running this race, with one foot in pain and the other foot in
joy. We cannot allow the negativity and
fear of our heart to hinder our race and entangle our joy. We can celebrate and share in the fellowship
of Christ with the knowledge that at the end of the race we, too, will surround
the throne of God.
1 comment:
This writing is so timely. Thank you!
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