(Title quote by Alan Cohen)
Psalm 19:8-The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Psalm 21:6-Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
I am so far away from understanding the Lord. But today as I am trying to find joy and stop complaining, I find that I have joy, or I should, I am just refusing to recognize it.
What I am missing out on is spelled out in scripture. Joy, according to these verses, is in the commands and presence of the Lord. Not in a chai tea latte, or a new sweater, or my husband, or my children, or a rainy afternoon, or a hot shower. I am seeking happiness and I am seeking to fill my life with things and people that take my mind off of pain and challenges. But, as I turn more and more toward those things, I am noticing a shifting away from the Lord. A shift away from the joy of just sitting with my Savior, the joy of prayer, the joy of following the Lord, the joy of living His commands.
The challenges I am facing are, most often, consequences of my own disobedience and pride. Rather than "crying over spilled milk" and other such petty things, I want my heart to be broken for the things that are on my Father's heart. I want my heart to be broken over single mothers, abuse, starvation, poverty, excessive wealth, sin, greed, abortions, people who are in need, orphans and widows.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
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