March 22, 2019

(If you read my early post on this subject, this one might be slightly different… my early post disappeared somehow.)

In my lengthy commute to work, less than the length of an average song, God laid an idea on my mind. This particular afternoon the question came to me, “should we as Christians be happy or sad?” Before you answer the question… truly stop and think about it.

Now this idea comes from thinking about the world around me. To me… when thinking about the world, it’s unfortunately a very sad place. I have my lovely children (whom I truly love) that have changed my life, my emotions, and my way of thinking forever. The moments that they are suffering, hurting, or just going through a tuff time, that’s when this idea of a sad sad world really hits me.

Elaborating on that thought… when my kids are sick, don’t feel good, cant sleep, have a hard time going to the bathroom, those things break my heart. As small and insignificant as those may sound… those things break my heart, but what breaks my heart even more is to think about those kids out there that don’t have parents who care and love them and who are there for them in their times of need.

Just the thought of all the suffering people, children, and the bad situations that come about in this life, wouldn’t that make us sad, wouldn’t that make anyone sad? But what does Jesus say?

Very truly I (Jesus) tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Until now you have not asked for anything in My (Jesus) Name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:20, 24

So happiness… or joy? Happiness isn’t mentioned to often in the Bible, but joy is mentioned. But don’t misinterpret what kind of joy Jesus is talking about. This joy is a joy that is looking forward to His return and a joy that is found only in Him. But wait… is that where the story ends? Now don’t misunderstand, Jesus’ return and our relationship with Him is fantastic… but what about the here and now, what does Jesus want us to do to share the joy that He gives us?

Those people who are hurting, those children who need a godly person in their life, all those bad situations that are around us everyday, God wants to use us. He wants to use us to be the “hands and feet of Him (Christ). That’s what He expects while we are here on this earth. The “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul talks about is a helpful tool in knowing what and how God wants us to be.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Does the list go in order of greatest importance? I have no idea… but you can see that first is “love,” and that is the love that we share by being the hands and feet. And through that we will find the second thing on the list, joy, as will they, that will surpass anything else.