JOY
Nehemiah 8:10 “…do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.
A word that’s been resonating in my mind lately is joy. I have realized that all through my life this has been something my family has shown me is important. Laughter has always been a big part of my life and I have always tried to be a joyful person. Growing up with a jokester for a grandpa and an aunt with a lot of wit, not to mention having a sarcastic brother and sister and the dorky jokes my dad's always thrown in, laughter has been a big part of my life. I learned early on that “laughter is the best medicine”. As I was looking through verses that I’ve used to describe my life while putting together a photo album it was so clear that laughter and joy have been the sustainers of my life. Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance”. Luke 6:21 says, “For ye shall laugh”. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”. As I recognize this I think, where does my joy come from? Other than the laughter and my sense of humor that I was raised with, where have I gotten the lasting and sustaining joy that keeps pushing me and ispiring me as I come up against trials in life. Well, this joy has come from my God. I can truly say, “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. I have always found a driving force in my inspiration from joy to come from listening to Steven Curtis Chapman’s music, my two all time favorites, “Dive”, and “Live Out Loud”. The lyrics to these songs have gotten me pumped so many times for this life as a servant of God my Savior. The chorus from the song “Dive” is, “I'm diving in, I'm going deep, In over my head I wanna be, Caught in the rush, Lost in the flow, In over my head I wanna go, The river's deep, The river's wide, The river's water is alive, So sink or swim, I'm diving in, I'm diving in”. This is my passion! To be so deep in this life for Christ that I am over my head and all I can do is depend on my Savior to carry me! This is what I see as truly living for Christ, where my sustaining joy comes from being used by Him! The song "Live Out Loud" has inspired me as well, the chorus, " Wake the neighbors, Get the word out, Come on, crank up the music, climb a mountain and shout, This is life we've been given, made to be lived out, So, la, la, la, la, live out loud". I want my joy and countenounce to be that of Christs! To be so abundant that people ask, where do you get your excitement from!
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