NATURALLY
JOYFUL
Psalm
28:7
“The
Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am
helped. My heart leaps for joy and I
will give thanks to Him in song.”
Eight year old Shakira got a
splinter in her hand at the swimming pool.
It hurt. She cried, “Owww! Can anyone help me?” Shakira wrung her hands. She wore a scowl. She just wanted to go home.
A woman sitting on a blanket in the
grass, her baby by her side, heard Shakira’s cry. “Come here, honey,” she called. “Show me what’s wrong.”
Shakira walked over and showed the
lady her splinter. “I just got it. It hurts!
Can you help me?” Shakira asked.
The woman saw the splinter in
Shakira’s palm. She asked, “Can you see
the direction it entered?” Then she
pressed the tip backwards, and the end popped out of Shakira’s skin. She grabbed the splinter end and drew it out.
“Eh, thank you!” Shakira shouted,
overjoyed.
The baby squealed happily.
The woman picked up her baby and
cheered, “Corrie, you’re happy too!”
Shakira wondered, “Why is Corrie happy? She didn’t just get rid of pain.”
The woman smiled at Shakira and her
daughter. “Corrie’s always happy. Aren’t you, Corrie?”
Corrie shows us all how to be
joyful—naturally. Corrie doesn’t worry
about anything. She doesn’t care about
what others think about her. She doesn’t
worry what she’ll eat, or where she’ll sleep.
Corrie trusts that all her needs will be met. Corrie’s happy all the time—eager to see what
fun comes next. She expects happy.
God wants His kids to be joyful—expecting
happy, too. But most of us link joy with
immediate circumstances. If David, who
wrote many of the Psalms in the Bible, was only joyful when things were
perfect, we wouldn’t know…
How many times he fled for his life,
how sorry he was for his sins, or grief over a lost son, he wrote about God being
the source of his joy. God was the
source for David’s strength. His Psalm
100:1-2 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before
Him with joyful songs.”
Joy is human’s natural
state. How often do we link joy with
circumstance? The two are not connected
at all. Those who belong to God have His
Spirit, redemption and eternal life. Why
allow worry to impair your natural joyful state?
Take Home Nugget
If we pour out our sorrows to God in
prayer, the rest of the day will be content and peaceful. Check out the lesson, below, for God’s faithful
care promises.
We can have baby’s natural joy when we
allow God to take care of His baby.
J.D.
Griffith
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment