“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
Walking down a crowded grocery store aisle I look into face after face of strangers. With each stranger I make eye contact with, I make a conscience effort to smile. Face after face after face meets me with a scowl, glare or, at best, a deadpan expression. Even after I smile at them, rarely do I receive a smile back. I politely would pass through tight spaces and between shoppers and displays, meeting each one’s glare with a smile and eye contact.
I do not live in New York City. I do not live in some sprawling metropolis filled with nameless, faceless strangers. I am from a suburban town where it is not unusual to recognize several neighbors, coworkers, friends and even family members on a routine shopping trip. They are hardworking, blue collar people, not executives and CEOs. They are “every man”, they are soccer moms, construction workers, nurses, waiters, coffee shop baristas. The heartbeat of America.
And they are sad. And angry. And struggling. Even as they walk through aisle after aisle of opulence. Their eyes are blind to what is before them. The life sustainability that the developing-world is devoid of. Any type of foodstuff is at their fingertips. Clean, cool water in pristine bottles and jugs at the ready, even freely flowing from faucets. Every variety of fruit, vegetable, nut, herb, fish, fowl or meat that they could ever desire is within grasp season after season. They have more money in their bank accounts than some will ever see in a lifetime.
Where is the joy?
As I plod my way down the baking aisle, passing shelves filled with flour, sugar, spices and more, it hit me. “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” These people stare blankly at their desires because they do not have the strength that this world requires. They do not have the joy that is not of this world, a heavenly, Godly, everlasting joy. Their joy is a temporal, worldly, empty, unsatisfying joy that leaves them wanting more of this world to fill the hole that has been left by a joy that doesn’t last. It is a hunger that cannot be fed in the physical world. It is a strength that comes from the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Let me say it this way; my strength is the joy of the Lord. My… strength… is... the joy... of the Lord. Since I have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living in me, taking residence in my heart, His joy permeates me. His joy bolsters me. His joy causes my spine to straighten, my eyes to search, my facial muscles to form a smile which is a universal symbol of joy! AND that is where my strength is found! That is where I find the courage to face trials. That is where I find the confidence to go against the mainstream. That is where I stand firm within my beliefs. Not in my feeble attempts at the world’s strand of strength. Not in my humanity. Not in my frailty. Not in my own will. In His joy. Period. Strength is in His joy. Who would turn from that? Who would want anything more or anything less? It is not what we deserve, but it is what He offers us and lovingly gives to us free of charge.
There is so much hurt, too much hurt and despair and anger and hatred in the world today. It will get worse before it gets better. It will get much worse before the world is saved with redemption and freedom. Until that happens, I will choose to be joyful. I will choose to find my strength in The One who knew me before the world was formed. The One who rejoices over me with singing. I will choose to find my strength in His joy and I will smile into those lost, lonely, hurting eyes of a bleeding, broken world. And I will let love win.
I will choose joy.
(Originally written 7.16.16; the birth of The Joy I Choose)
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