Joy

This is my first blog since landing in the Bible belt. Tennessee will be our home for the next few years. Maybe longer. It's not what I thought would be in our "someday" plans, but it's good. God is good.

We finally got the internet connected yesterday. I've had access to a computer at the library, but 30 minute sessions twice a week with a line of people waiting, doesn't get me more than my email cleared out. So I'm very thankful to have it in my home again.

Most of our furniture is still not here. Actually, I'm not sure where it is. The stuff coming from Germany seems unaccounted for, wih no one able to trace it. The black hole that is the Army transportation system has swallowed most of my material possessions. But we have a computer, a bed, a few dishes, a TV, books. And a home.

Have I posted on joy before? I don't remember. But it's been on my mind for a while now, so I want to write about it today. A friend called last week and we talked about rejoicing in suffering. The subject of the Wednesday night Bible study last week was "what steals our joy." Two of the books I've been reading this week have had chapters devoted to it. And as I read through my daily Bible I am confronted by Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Job, who had specific things to say about suffering and joy.

I don't understand it all. I understand very little of it, in fact. But I do know that if I want to walk in this pilgrim way in a manner that is pleasing to God, I must learn to rejoice in this day. Every day. Regardless of what is put in my path. I don't think joy is optional for the Christian. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit to be sure, but I believe it's also a command. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice." He doesn't say, rejoice if you feel like it.

The last couple of weeks I've been reading Jeremiah's writings and the historical context in which they were written. Jerusalem was about to be destroyed. This man was called by God from before his birth to minister to a people who would reject him. Everything around him would be destroyed and he himself would be abused and eventually carried away into Egypt by his own countrymen. Lamentations is one of the most heartwrenching books of the Bible as our writer pours out the anguish of his soul. But right smack dab in the middle of that short book is a passage that one of our most joyful, beautiful songs comes from. I am betting that most people don't realize the context of the verses as they sing in praise to God these few words:

But this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion says my soul.
Therefore I will hope in Him.
(Lamentations 3:21-24)

Jeremiah shared something with the other ancient writers. He viewed all events from a Biblical perpective. Specifically, the New Testament writers viewed all events in light of the Resurrection and the ultimate triumph of the risen Christ. John Ortberg calls this "eschatological thinking."

That is where we find our joy. The apostles' world caved in on a Friday afternoon long long ago. What they didn't understand was that things aren't always what they seem. They had not yet understood truth. Truth was not some abstract concept. It was and is and always will be the God With Us, Jesus. And he'd be in their midst again. What they hadn't yet grasped was that Sunday was coming. What a glorious Sunday it would be.

Our Sunday is still coming as well. It's been promised, pledged, guaranteed, and we've even been given a deposit on it. What's more, we've been filled with the very power that brought Christ up out of the grave, along with peace and grace to make it through the more difficult moments.

Rejoice in the Lord always.