Bottling Up Joy

A friend of mine was sharing some really exciting news with me and she said that she felt like her whole self was cheerful! She’s been seeing God do really extraordinary things in her work life and the more she shared about this cheerfulness, the more I began to realize that what she is experiencing is the joy of the Lord…  

I was amazed because it sounds like she is truly getting to experience a portion of the joy God is feeling about her specific situation and the future of her ministry… and yet I was also struck by a more somber reminder that I sensed strongly to share with the Lifespring Family!

In Nehemiah 8:10, he instructs the people to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Not only is the Joy of the Lord to be our strength and the key to transition us out of grief and mourning, it would appear that it is also intended to be shared. It is intended to lead us into a place of sharing food and drink not only with those we know, but with those who have nothing prepared! THIS is the Good News of God…

So I told my friend, “to bottle up all that joy” she is currently experiencing… not because God will suddenly run out of joy one day or because it’s something to hoard. Rather, there will be times when things get difficult and the strength that comes from the joy of the Lord will be much harder to access.

This is the reality of humanity, we are quick to forget the things God has done in the past when we are facing down new sets of impossibilities.

However, the beauty of this Good News, the mystery of strength-inducing joy, is that it is entirely contagious and shareable. In those moments of personal challenge, sometimes we find ourselves as “those who have nothing prepared”. We find ourselves lacking what we need to celebrate.

And here is where this two-part solution begins to take shape… When we dig out those bottles of joy we carefully packed up in the seasons of cheerfulness and excitement, we remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God; we look back to remember the ways God revealed love and joy to us in the past.

Similarly, when we have spare “bottles of joy”, we are equipped to share with those who have not prepared for themselves these reminders of who God truly is. Or perhaps they are far too buried beneath the trials and obstacles around them.

The Christmas Season can be one of unspeakable joy and intolerable sadness simultaneously.

Continue to check in on yourself and truly consider where you land in the Joy of the Lord department… Does your cup overflow? Or are you walking in the valley of the shadow of death?

The Good News is that the Lord is faithful and does yearn to comfort, redeem and strengthen his people with exactly what it is they need day by day, moment by moment.

Consider also the people around you! How can you share with them the Joy of the Lord (without sliming them with insensitive “Christmas Spirit”) and listening to their hearts as they share where they’re at?

Let’s continue to care for one another and depend, together, on the joy of the Lord to be our strength!