A Season of Joy

[Read Isaiah 55:12-13]

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace…

I choose joy. To choose joy is to believe beyond what is seen and to claim a deeper inspired happiness. Joy is a condition of the heart. It defies reason. It is not dependent on things going your desired way. Joy cannot be contained. It should NOT be contained. It gives peace and motivates action.

I am drawn to the action words in this scripture. With joy, “you will go out… be led with peace.” You will move forward not even sure where it leads, but confident, at peace and secure with the One who leads you. To move, guided by the Lord, is the only way to go forward into the unknown with peace and joy.

The action words continue with the impossible statement that the secure mountains and hills will break forth from their firm foundations into shouts of joy!! The very trees will clap their hands! All creation is exuberant with the joy of the Lord! This is the kind of joy that Christ brings to us. It is illogical, ridiculous, absurd, hilarious, and abundant!

The abundant joy of the Lord cannot be contained. It should NOT be contained. It is meant to spread faster than any virus. It is to shine bright through the darkness night. It is beyond all reason. It is a precious gift that cannot be kept to one’s self. It is the very irresistible essence of God. May each of us extend this joy to each other and to the world. 

Deacon Donna Van Ramshorst
Bay View Lutheran – Sturgeon Bay 


   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Noah

Image
[Read Genesis 6:8, 22; 1 Peter 3:20; Hebrews 11:7 ] By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. Here on the island, we know the importance of finding safe passage through the waters. And we’re pretty blessed to have the ferry providing year-round service across the “Door.” It truly is our lifeline. If you’ve been on one, you know their boats are unique. They’re not cruise ships or fishing boats. Each is specifically designed to safely take vehicles, humans, and cargo to and from the mainland. For Advent this year, as we look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming, we’re remembering Jesus’ ancestors. It turns out that one of his distant relatives also ran a ferry boat. His name was Noah and God told him to build a boat, or Ark. Its purpose? To carry people and animals to safety from a catastrophic flood (see Genesis 6:9-8:22). This must have seemed pretty random for Noah. Yet, with no evidence...
Read more

Josiah

Image
[Read 2 Chronicles 35:1-3 ]  Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. It was a scene that could have happened in Imperial Rome, a king assassinated by close advisors, his young son thrust onto the throne. Such was the story of Josiah, son of Amon, King of Judah, the last remaining lands of the once great Davidic Kingdom. The nation was a mess. Solomon's Temple was in a state of disrepair, and the people were divided, worshipping false gods. The king started small, directing that Temple funds be used to repair the building. It was in that process that a long-lost scroll of the Law was “discovered.” Today, scholars believe that scroll was Deuteronomy, and while this seems a minor incident in the scope of the Hebrew story, it set off a national and theological reform with consequences to this day, responsible for historical books that tell us the story of that people, influencing the Prophet Jeremiah. Josiah consulted the great proph...
Read more

Methuselah

Image
[Read Genesis 5:27 ] Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. Often people lament that life is too short. Even when blessed with a relatively long life, people feel it isn’t enough time. In Genesis we read of Methuselah. He bore a son at the age of 187 years, and he lived another 782 years; this is a total of 969 years. He died in the year of the flood. As noted in Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, even the “longest liver must die at last.” Methuselah’s life might remind us that such a passing has long been considered a relief from struggle. Methuselah’s grandson is named Noah to signify rest, and his father complained of the “calamitous state of human life… Our whole life is spent in labor, and our time is filled up with continual toil.” How true this is! We sometimes forget that no matter how good life is, it seems that it always includes struggles. They may be because of loved ones, or addictions, or poor choices, or politics of the day, but often it seems life...
Read more