Joy (Write 31 Days, Day 23 & a Giveaway)

Today's word is joy and I keep on trying to come up with something original to write but my mind keeps on returning to the post I wrote on this word back in March 2014 when it was the word for Five Minute Friday hosted by Lisa-Jo Baker.  So, I'm just going to repeat it here today. Apparently it's what I'm supposed to do today. :)

Joy Comes With the Mourning

Psalm 30:5b (ESV) – Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

I’ve been thinking a lot about joy these days. It seems joy always comes to mind when I’m thinking/reading about the gospel, about glorying in the cross of Christ. Of course, that’s because, for Christians, the cross brings joy. And we are commanded to be joyful. Now, that makes people confused. Does that mean we have to be happy all the time? To this I say, “No!” I believe that Christian joy is not equated with happiness. It is unrealistic to think that, in this fallen world, we can be happy all the time. But, can we be filled with joy all the time? Yes! Because Christian joy is very much related to the hope we have in Christ, to our faith in God. Today, when I saw the word joy, do you know what the first thing that came to my mind was? It was the night I received a phone call from my brother telling me my mom passed away. Was I happy? Of course not! I was heart broken! I wept! BUT, I also had joy! I turned to God’s word and was brought to the verse from Revelation: “… ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”  … THAT is joy! Oh, I was mourning (as were we all). The funeral was hard. We were all sad! BUT, there was joy! Because we could glory in the cross and be comforted knowing Mom believed - and, oh how passionately she believed! We could have joy because we knew that her suffering had ended, that she was in the presence of God living in eternal joy! So, when I saw the word joy today another verse jumped out at me from Psalm 30 “… joy comes with the morning.” This refers to the start of a new day that brings joy. And it does! But, I played with the words a bit … for us, with Mom passing away, joy came with the mourning. In our sadness we could still find joy! 

And then I added this post-scripts to my post: Another thought:  I know these posts are supposed to be unedited but ... I remembered something I wanted to add but apparently forgot when Annalise interrupted my thoughts to ask how to draw Hawkeye. :) I wanted to write about the other thought (more an image actually) that came to my mind after I heard the news about my mom passing away. She had been wheelchair bound the last few years of her life as she didn't really have the strength anymore to walk - rheumatoid arthritis had taken it's toll on her. BUT, the image that came to mind was joy filled. It was an image of my mom in a beautiful green meadow ... and she was running, running with joy, just because she could. :) THAT is joy!

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