Hope

Finding Joy…and Strength

As a college professor, the start of a new semester can sometimes sneak up on you. I imagine it’s the same for the students as well as for anyone who has a “break” and then has to get back to the normal routine of things. As I prepare for the new year, there are times when the amount of things that have to get done seemingly exceeds the amount of time that I have to do them. Staying up later and getting up earlier in order to accomplish those things tends to exacerbate the feelings of exhaustion and being overwhelmed. It’s a hard adjustment to make.

However, as I have been reminded of recently, my source of strength isn’t in the amount of sleep I get (although I do need sleep) or in my ability to cross things off my to-do list. Instead, as Scripture says, “the joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b). Strength comes from rejoicing in what He is accomplishing, not what I’m doing. Strength comes in finding joy in Who He is, not who I am.

The beautiful thing about this is that God is never changing;  He is Who He is – always. Additionally, God is always at work for His purposes. What this means is that there are always reasons to rejoice. There is never a time that I can’t find joy in Him, which means there is never a time that I can’t find strength.

God tells us that He will renew the strength of those who hope in Him –  so much so that it will be as if they are on the wings of eagles. When we find our joy in Him, when He is our source of satisfaction, we may be tired, but He will help us run like young men. He will give us what we need to persevere – joyfully and in His strength.

 

How can you find joy in the Lord today?

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Hope

Do a Little Dance

The book of James has long been a favorite of mine. I credit that to my dad who, when I was in 6th grade and had finished all the AWANA books that our church offered, encouraged me to memorize it – from start to finish.  And I did. I remember that day when I started with Chapter 1, verse 1, and recited all the verse through Chapter 5, verse 20. It took a lot longer than the typical “memory verse” time.

Another reason I love the book is because it’s so encouraging for those that are suffering. Although my life has been very blessed, we all suffer in big or small ways. Last year when my heart broke in ways that I never anticipated, the call to persevere was very dear to me.  Knowing that the trials we were going through did not catch God by surprise and that He was using them to bring about His purposes was sometimes the motivation we needed to, as my mom would say “keep on plugging.” Sometimes the reason you keep putting one foot in front of the other is because you know that God is leading.

Yet, sometimes I focused so much on getting through the trials, that I neglected to remember how James begins his discourse  on them. He writes “Count it all joy…” According to J.P Louw and E.A. Nida’s “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament“, the word joy used here is often expressed idiomatically. So rather than saying the word “joy” the author uses a phrase to describe what joy is.  What we read as “joy” here could be read as “my heart is dancing.” Which seems incongruous when you consider the subject matter. When we are going through pain and suffering, it’s often our hearts that are the heaviest.  Even physical pain can seem inconsequential in comparison to discouraged hearts.  How can we expect our heart to dance when the cries of pain are overwhelming? 

However, when I thought of my nieces I began to understand a little bit of how this might be. Like most young children, there are a  lot of things that they don’t know how to do, but one thing that they do know how to do is to dance. It’s not overly rhythmic and they don’t know any moves, but if there’s dancing to be done, they are willing participants. They mimic those that are already dancing, or they make up their own routine. They don’t even need music. They dance simply because they can, and they do so without consideration for all the reasons they should not.

In similar ways, our hearts can be dancing even when trials surround us. We can dance because while the noise of our pain may be loud, the music of our Father’s love is louder still. We dance because we know that the last song will be one of triumph as our King comes to claim His bride. And we dance because we know that this trial that we are experiencing will not last forever, but it will be used for His purpose.

So we teach our hearts to dance, without music and without knowing the moves. We do so without consideration for all they reasons we shouldn’t, because we know that  as believers the Reason we should is greater than any temporary condition of pain.

Now it’s your turn – How do you teach your heart to dance in the midst of painful circumstances?

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