Today I’d like to share my heart with all of you:
In my heart, my emotions twist together in a long rope. There are hundreds and hundreds of threads, all different colors and weights. Many of those threads are bright red.
The red threads in my heart are joy, and some days joy is all that is visible in my heart. There are so many beautiful days when, even though other emotions are twisted together in me, JOY is what comes to the surface.
And there are other days. There are days when deep blue threads of grieving worm their way to the surface of the rope. There are days when green threads of envy and anger are more visible. But the red will never fully leave me.
The Joy of the Lord is my strength. Even on the days when I am swept up in worldly emotion, I know that the Joy of the Lord is what carries me, moves me, strengthens me, and defines me.
“Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and so not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
I get to celebrate the truth of God’s word in freedom and in JOY. The shame of my sin was obliterated on the cross, and I am filled with the joy of the Lord.
The Joy of the Lord is my strength.
