Ever get them? I feel like I have more and more recently. It’s like the Spirit just slams me with this ridiculous, overpowering joy. And the result is that I get a goofy grin and start giggling like a little schoolgirl.
This is kind of a new thing to me, and admittedly started out being a bit weird. But my God doesn’t fit in a box of somberness or seriousness, and by golly I think He loves to see me laugh! I’m even going to say He delights in laughing with me!
(Which is different than laughing at me, though I think He does that, too. But only in a very loving, Father-like type way. I’m secure in the fact that I do a lot of stuff worth Him getting a good chuckle – always happy to amuse Him.)
I think the laughter comes when God fills me with so much joy that I literally can’t hold it in anymore. The options are to laugh or to explode…or maybe both. Yes yes, that’s it – a Holy explosion of laughter. And I can’t control it, because it just comes and takes over. It. Is. Awesome.
Someone once spoke that scripture over me. And I hadn’t really ever thought about it before then, but I do believe that joy is one of the fruits that the Lord has poured out over me in a special way. However I’ve realized, especially in the past year, that it doesn’t always come naturally.
There were times on the race when I was having a rough day or a bad attitude, and I remember taking my sharpie and writing the word “joy” on my wrist to remind me of what I wanted to have in my heart. It wasn’t easy. In fact one month I was writing it so often that I considered just going to a tattoo shop and making it permanent to save myself the trouble each morning. (Don’t worry Dad, I didn’t do that…yet.)
And then a couple of days ago, I found myself here at World Race training camp, pumped for all the future racers that had just shown up, when I received a call from someone in my life that left me with a heavy and burdened heart. And at first, I was frustrated because I feared that this would turn my week into a mess.
But then I realized that I had a choice. My Father has given me joy, and He so desires that in all circumstances, I open up my hands and receive it. Even when I go through tough things, I can still walk in the fullness of joy, because Joy lives within me.
So that night I worshiped my Father with a smile spread across my face and a belly full of laughter.
Sometimes joy comes over us on its own, but sometimes it ain’t so easy. And if we want joy, we have to choose joy. Because when it comes down to it, we've been given freedom through Jesus Christ, and with freedom comes choice. So each day, what are you going to choose?
