“Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places.” (Deuteronomy 33:29 NKJV)
A few years ago someone said to us, “You two amaze me. You have been through so much.” We still don’t understand what she meant.
In retrospect, we know God’s people have more than the weapons of God to help us fight and win any battle against sin and the power of the evil one. While the Lord gives us protection (“You shall not be tempted beyond what you are able . . . .”) and often steps in to do amazing things on our behalf, one of the great blessings of being a Christian is the first word in the above verse. Happy.
Not just happy, joyful. The joy of the Lord is deeper than the ‘happy’ of pleasant circumstances. It is a deep, total knowing that God is in control no matter what, a sense of ‘all is well’ that counters all fear and anxiety. It is an emotion but also a firm trust. Whatever else joy is and does, it makes the circumstances of life secondary.
In other words, when I’m filled with the joy of the Lord, I don’t really notice a lot of things that otherwise might have been annoying, perplexing or difficult. This joy is not being oblivious or in a state of denial. Instead it is that assurance that no matter what is going on around me, I know that He is in charge, He will make sense of it, He has purpose for it all, and He will eventually make things right.
Truly, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
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