THE JOY OF THE LORD

I recently had a new revelation on the Joy of the Lord.  I have always known that in His presence there is fullness of joy and that when I am in His presence I feel strength in my spirit and my physical being.  However, the experience I am about to describe had absolutely nothing to do with worship and was far from spiritual. 

It had been a long day.  Although I did not have to go work, I was home with Clayton and Carter my two preschoolers.  Feeling rather brave and being somewhat caught up at home, I thought I would go to the grocery store.  I took a solemn oath the last time I went on this adventure that I would never do it again.   However I must have temporarily lost my mind when I decided to try once more all alone.  

The adventure started with great precision as I load everyone out of the car and into the double stroller.  Once inside I proceed to get a buggy.  It takes some skill but if you do it just right you can push a stroller and pull a buggy like a well-oiled machine.  Until~
the baby wakes up.  Now, it is a race to get out of the store.  I would end up spending more time trying to keep everyone happy, dry, fed and entertained than actually getting groceries.  Halfway through the adventure I am now carrying the baby, pushing the stroller and trying to instruct my 4 yr old the art of steering a grocery cart. We make it home just in time to unload groceries and then go pick up my teenager from his basketball practice. 

At this time I was trying to wean Carter.  He nursed mostly in the early morning and before bed.  Once I was home for good, I realized that I had forgotten to get formula.  I called my husband and asked him to stop and pick some up.  Later that evening we were all getting ready to attend my nephew’s college graduation ceremony.  My mom called and said “Don’t be late because he is going to sing a solo at the beginning of the service.”  The pressure was now on to be on time. (This is not one of my spiritual gifts). 

Going anywhere as a whole family is always an adventure for us.  My oldest son, 15 years old and six foot six, has out grown the back seat.  That puts me in the back squeezed between the two car seats.   After packing all the bags, we pile in the car.  I was going to feed the baby a bottle in the car when I realized that I had forgotten the milk that David had just purchased.  Never mind, I thought, he was asleep and I had my pump, I would just make a bottle in the car.  I tried to complete this task as we drove down the road.   All the while carrying on a detailed conversation with my 4 year old that never stops talking and loves to play games in the car like guess what I’m thinking.  I could feel my heart pounding and felt as though there was no way I could take anymore pressure when I realized that I could not make a bottle and was going to have to ask my husband to pull over for the second time in one day to buy some formula.  He graciously conceded.

As we began to pull over there was some crazy music on the radio like the dogs singing jingle bells and I wanted to scream “Please Lord just take me home!”  “I can’t take this anymore!”  All at once the Joy of the Lord came over me.  I started laughing hysterically from my tight spot in the back seat.  My family all thought I had lost my mind, but as I laughed the weight and stress of the day just lifted off of my shoulders. 

We arrived at the ceremony and were able to sit in the hallway on a nice comfy couch with a direct eye view of the speaker.  We were there just before my nephew sang and thus were spared from listening to the speeches that came before.  I learned that day that the Joy of the Lord is my strength.  I had always thought of being filled with His joy while worshiping in His presence.   The Joy Giver showed me this night that His joy is always available to me.  He uses it to break the spirit of heaviness, stress, and confusion.  And just because He loves me, when I can’t go after it, He will graciously pour it on me.

I bless you with a peaceful and joy filled day!

Blessings and Joy,
ASPIRE MINISTRIES
Ephesians 3:16-21