I'm having to work on my joy this morning. Even though I am again sitting outside, on a beautiful spring morning, listening to the birds sing, my heart is not joyful. It has been weighed down the past few days with a feeling of sadness about the world we live in, and the world in which my grandchildren will grow up.
I long for the world as I knew it as a child, when things were so much simpler. And I don't mean they were simpler just because I was a child, they were simpler for everyone. The rules were plainer and there was no so much divisiveness. I fully realize that not everyone lived in an "Ozzie and Harriet" kind of world, but I really believe that anyone born after 1970 cannot understand how different our times are. I also realize that I was brought up in an environment not like everyone else's of that time. My world was that of a nuclear, white, Christian family. My hometown was a small, German, farming town in southern Illinois where there was only one church and one school in town, and they were both Lutheran. We were taught the Bible not only on Sunday mornings, but in school each day.
The longer I dwell on the past, though, I realize it's flaws. People who did not fit into my nice little world were probably not nearly as happy as I, and had no accommodation. It was a time of major civil unrest and I, not aware of those struggles, didn't understand (and still don't) how people could label anyone a lesser person just because of the color of their skin. It didn't make sense to me.
Viet Nam came and brought with it a whole other level of rebellion. My world was changing quickly and it would never be the same.
Now we find ourselves in a world where everyone speaks their mind about any subject. We have so many different opinions about so many different problems and they are all broadcast 24-hours a day via CNN and FOX. It is hard to stay joyful when you are being confronted on a moment-by-moment basis with so many reasons not to be!
But yet we are told to "consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds." That's just where we are, isn't it? Trials of many, many different kinds. So where does our joy come from? Our joy comes from the Holy Spirit, with the message that we have been given (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2). We do not have a God who doesn't see what we are going through, either in our own personal lives, or in the life of our country, or of this world that we live in. He knows - He understands - and He sees the end, which is actually the beginning! We have faith in God who is the Victor!
Right now it is raining in my little world --- always a beautiful thing in the Texas panhandle. It is refreshing my soul, and I am joyful.
I long for the world as I knew it as a child, when things were so much simpler. And I don't mean they were simpler just because I was a child, they were simpler for everyone. The rules were plainer and there was no so much divisiveness. I fully realize that not everyone lived in an "Ozzie and Harriet" kind of world, but I really believe that anyone born after 1970 cannot understand how different our times are. I also realize that I was brought up in an environment not like everyone else's of that time. My world was that of a nuclear, white, Christian family. My hometown was a small, German, farming town in southern Illinois where there was only one church and one school in town, and they were both Lutheran. We were taught the Bible not only on Sunday mornings, but in school each day.
The longer I dwell on the past, though, I realize it's flaws. People who did not fit into my nice little world were probably not nearly as happy as I, and had no accommodation. It was a time of major civil unrest and I, not aware of those struggles, didn't understand (and still don't) how people could label anyone a lesser person just because of the color of their skin. It didn't make sense to me.
Viet Nam came and brought with it a whole other level of rebellion. My world was changing quickly and it would never be the same.
Now we find ourselves in a world where everyone speaks their mind about any subject. We have so many different opinions about so many different problems and they are all broadcast 24-hours a day via CNN and FOX. It is hard to stay joyful when you are being confronted on a moment-by-moment basis with so many reasons not to be!
But yet we are told to "consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds." That's just where we are, isn't it? Trials of many, many different kinds. So where does our joy come from? Our joy comes from the Holy Spirit, with the message that we have been given (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2). We do not have a God who doesn't see what we are going through, either in our own personal lives, or in the life of our country, or of this world that we live in. He knows - He understands - and He sees the end, which is actually the beginning! We have faith in God who is the Victor!
Right now it is raining in my little world --- always a beautiful thing in the Texas panhandle. It is refreshing my soul, and I am joyful.
1 comment:
I feel joy when I think about my God and His powerful Love. His love overcomes my sadness and brings me joy. There is joy knowing God is in control of my life. He loves me.
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