As I sit at the kitchen table of a friend's house, with a cool summery breeze blowing through the room and a giant snoring German Shepherd sleeping peacefully at my feet, I am at peace.
This summer has been a whirlwind summer, with about six weeks spent Stateside, where I tried to juggle the precious balance of time with family and visiting with others. When I returned to Hungary, my body and mind were completely exhausted - spent. It took days for me to get my feet back under me. Maybe that's a sign that I'm not as young as I used to be. I don't know.
I was given by the good Lord many incredible opportunities to meet with people and share about my life and what God has been doing in Hungary. This continues to surprise me - because I am just an ordinary person that happens to have lived internationally. In my mind, it's not that special. But sometimes I forget some of the incredible complexities that make up my life - as an MK in Central and South America, and as an adult living in Europe.
One amazing opportunity I had this summer was a chance to be the mission speaker at a camp in South Alabama - Camp Victory. I had heard about it from my best friends who had gone there as kids. Then I connected with the program director while speaking at his church two years ago. I showed up with not a clue what was in store for me that week aside from I would be leading a daily mission time and teaching a small group bible class. Man, was I blessed by what I had the privilege to experience that week!
Back in January, I was asked what I wanted to do my small group Bible class on. Camp was six months away...I didn't have ANY clue what I wanted to teach on, and a whole lot left in the school year before camp! But I asked the Lord, What part of my story can connect to the Bible enough to pull a theme? And I clearly heard back - CHOOSE JOY.
So, I thought, Well...ok.
The Lord knew I needed to spend some intentional time researching and studying what joy looked like in God's Word, to ground myself in the truth. It almost frightens me of the reason why He might want me to know that. But I must trust, regardless of the mountains or valleys that may come my way.
Through reading devotionals and articles about joy, I came across this definition that I liked best:
Joy is a lasting emotion that comes from a choice to trust that God will fulfill His promises.
Read that again.
I learned as I taught those middle school girls. Joy is not just about being happy because good things are happening around you.
Joy is a deep seated choice to trust that God knows what He's doing and He is trustworthy.
Paul David Tripp talks about 2 kinds of joy: horizontal joy and vertical joy. Horizontal joy is based on circumstances, relationships, finances, etc. We are happy because good things are happening around us. But if our joy is in those things, when we are shaken our joy will vanish!
Vertical joy is based on God. His trustworthiness. His faithfulness. His sovereignty. His unchanging character. If our joy is vertical then when we are shaken (not if, but when), He is unchanging and that gives us solid peace.
It does not mean, however, that we do not need to show sorrow. It is important - even essential - to grieve and lament. Do not ignore or suppress that sorrow because "I'm supposed to be happy". It is an acknowledgment that what has happened has been hard and it has hurt. Joy comes after (and maybe in the midst of) sorrow. It is the hope that we hold on to when our broken world falls apart yet we fix our eyes on Jesus and the promises of eternity!
Sometimes we have to choose to be joyful as we wait for something - to change, to end, to come. Worship while you wait. A post on Instagram by Ann Voskamp caught my eye the other day. It said, "Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise - a time of prayer wrapped up in a ribbon of patience - because is the Lord ever late?" Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise... Now that's a good reminder.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth said in her book Heaven Rules,
"You and I will never lack opportunities to share and live out our witness, demonstrating what's different about a person who follows our God, and making His reality difficult for others to refute. The Lord will make sure of this, simply in the flow of His rule in your life. And if you'll start each day already certain that you'll give Him worship when difficult moments come, no matter how you're challenged or how you feel, your testimony to your God will speak volumes."
Deciding now - in the calm, in the good, in the easy - that when life turns hard, I will rejoice anyways.
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice." - Philippians 4:4
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trails of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." - James 1:2-3
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." - Romans 12:12
"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places." - Habakkuk 3:17-19
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him." - James 1:12
"He Who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it." - 1 Thessalonians 5:24
"Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21
He is a promise-keeper, friends. Cling to the hope of Jesus.
