“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9)
I am a bit of a whiner. In fact, if you were to ask those closest to me you would likely find that they too would agree that I am a bit of a whiner. Now I don’t typically complain about things that most people care about, instead I complain about dishes in the sink or wrestlers (action figures as my son refers to them) in the living room. I point out if the pool is sagging or if there is just nothing on TV. I just complain.
It is strange because there are moments when I feel completely at ease. Moments when I don’t seem to care about an unkempt lawn or that my van is too hot. There are times when I am completely wrapped up in an experience that nothing can steal my focus. There are things to be frustrated by, but in these moments I don’t really seem to care.
Those moments...when I am singing in my car. Laying in the hammock, listening to music and staring into the night sky. Walking around the edge of a lake or standing in a field. When I am underwater.
Life can really be challenging at times. Keeping a sense of focus in spite of the various distractions can really throw a person for a loop. Friends betray us, our bodies fail to produce, jobs get “restructured”, wives find a lump, dads develop a cough, a bruise shows up that won’t go away, we are never quite able to sleep at night. Whatever it is, the uncertainty that can follow proves to be unrelenting.
It’s here that I need a moment. It’s here that I need to go swimming. It’s here that I just need to take a walk. Because at times life is quite simply Hell and I need to be reminded of something greater. Something that never fails. Something that is always there- albeit buried in the debris of living. It is not a “happy place”. It is not my inner child or the sacred space I have cultivated. Instead, it is something not related to me at all. It is a gift to me by the Spirit of the Living God. It is there to remind me that no matter the situation, I have not been abandoned. It is a water in a dry land, calm in a storm, it is the moment when my head goes underwater.
It is joy.
"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11)
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