December 17

Happy Tuesday to you. It was cold and slick and icy here yesterday and today we woke up to snow. Schools are closed for the second day but it is supposed to be warmer and sunny today. As you probably know, I am not a fan of the cold. But after I came home from work yesterday, I turned on my fireplace, my electric blanket, and fixed a cup of tea. Boomer and I snuggled down and took a nap while a Christmas movie was playing. It was pure bliss. 


I’ve been doing a little research on joy as we study it this week and C. S. Lewis surprised me with his definition. He says this idea of joy is not a satisfied desire (like warm weather) but rather an unsatisfied desire, a deep longing for God, a hungry pursuit of God’s heart that never ends but is more satisfying than any earthly happiness. In his autobiography, “Surprised by Joy”, he tells of experiencing an other-worldly joy─a specific joy that is almost the opposite of how we normally think of it. 


He explains three different and seemingly unimportant events where he experienced a sudden longing—sort of a yearning for something far-off, other-worldly, and unnamed during each event. Later, he recognized these sudden aches as a deep spiritual hunger for God, not just for an intellectual knowledge of God, but for a real relationship with Him. These deep longings in Lewis’ life, these stabs of joy, were flashing signs pointing him down the path toward Christ.


“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬


I love that idea that snaps of joy are what creates a desire in us to be in His presence and to know Him more fully. And when we think back, we can all remember a time or two when we had these exact same deep longings, aches, surges of joy pointing us straight to Christ—the path of life. 


God of joy, thank you for the joy you bring to our life as Lewis describes—those surges of joy that make us ache for a deep relationship with you, to know you in you fullness and to experience a close relationship with you. What a marvelous, complex God you are! We will never understand all the intricacies of you workings yet a child can understand your plan. We love you and adore you and we worship you this day. We rejoice because you have invited us into your forever Kingdom. Help us to complete our joy in you with the outpouring of our praise. Give us joy in all circumstances so those around us will see a joy that is real and living. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear one,

Pam



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