17. Loving Joy
Tuesday 5th March
(for more details see here)
Pause:
"As I enter prayer, I pause to be still;
to breathe slowly;
to re-center my scattered senses
upon the presence of God."
LECTIO 365 (DAILY PRAYER APP)
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Joy!
"You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." (JOHN 16. 20)
"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." (JOHN 16.22)
"Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (JOHN 16. 24)
Not a short lived burst of excitement, burning out all it's fuel in one blast.
Not simply a reaction to an unexpected turn of events that fades over time.
Not a joy that is partial, and tainted, and fragile.
But a
complete joy!
An
untakeable joy!
There is a joy that has known no grief.
A sweet, innocent joy - as new as a baby and yet somehow also naive.
And there is a beauty to it - but as yet it lacks robustness...
But then there's another joy that lies on the other side of grief.
Joy that has suffered lost and has yet survived.
That has tasted pain but not been poisoned by it's bitterness.
That has known the wounds of life and yet wears them with poise, and peace, and strength, and grace.
Grief turned to joy.
That's what Jesus promises.
That's what Jesus does.
That's the joy Jesus brings.
Reflection:
The only way out is through.
Lord, I sometimes wish I could shortcut the journey, speed up the process, skip a few levels.
But You call me to a different road, a deeper path.
I want the joy without the grief.
The happy ending without the painful chapters.
The crown without the cross.
The resurrection life without first dying to my self.
But that joy is incomplete.
That joy is untested.
That joy can be taken away.
Instead, today, I bring to You the burden and baggage of my grief.
I take my secret sorrows out of the inner sanctum,
and lay them in the safety and stillness of Your presence.
Only You can take them.
Only You can trade them.
Only You can transform them.
I don't know why You'd want them - except that Your deep joy lies in loving me.
I don't know how it's possible - but I trust that You bore my sorrows and You felt my grief.
And so, today - I choose the path of going through.
Not stopping before grief and ending my journey here
Not avoiding it's reality and wandering through dark and distant places
Not burrowing underneath and becoming crushed by it's weight
Not attempting to jump over only to find I don't have the wings to carry me
But I'm going in
I'm going through
For it is here in death's dark valley that You have promised to be with me
For this road You know all too well
For You never leave me nor forsake me
And so I choose to trust You again
I choose hope
I choose life
I choose love
I choose joy
Glad
I'm glad that God
did not so order the world
that laughter and pain
come in separate little boxes,
never to meet
or mingle.
I'm glad that the greatest of comedians
can bring me to the verge of despair,
and that a quadriplegic
who paints with his teeth
and taps out prose
one letter at a time
can remind me
of the richness of comedy.
I'm glad that laughter and pain
come intertwined
like veins in marble
and that it takes a detective
to trace them
and poems
to root them out.
GERARD KELLY (Spoken Worship)
Questions for today:
-
Where do you find your joy?
Prayer:
I will come and bow down
At Your feet Lord Jesus
In Your presence
Is fullness of joy
There is nothing
There is no one
Who compares with You
I take pleasure in
Worshiping You Lord
I will come and bow down
At Your feet Lord Jesus
In Your presence
Is fullness of joy
There is nothing
There is no one
Who compares with You
I take pleasure in
Worshiping You Lord
RON KENOLY
I prayed this.
My prayer for today: (if you would like to, please feel free to add your own prayer here):