Friday, May 7, 2010

Everlasting Joy

The ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
Everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 51:11 (NIV)



How do we respond to hardships? Do we wear long faces or look woeful when people ask how we are? Do we feel we would be less than honest if we tell them what we feel they want to hear?

I have fibromyalgia and other forms of arthritis. I always felt somewhat dishonest when I would say,” Fine.” At church during the time of our greeting one another, I found myself alternating between, “Fine.” And “Not so good.” But, this past Sunday I found myself greeting people with a positive look and voice

I recently found myself overcome with the thought of Joy, Grace, and Peace. This could become the name of my character in Drama Ministry. I started searching the scriptures for verses that dealt with these three terms.

The passage from Isaiah caught my eye. In it, the prophet predicts the return of those who the Lord has redeemed from exile. They will enter their homeland joyously. They will not be plagued with worries or doubts or the slightest concerns.

One of my Spiritual gifts is encouragement. I find great hope in this passage. It tells me that we can see our woes be put in their proper place and have joy and gladness fill our souls no matter what we are enduring at present

4 comments:

  1. Hi Quiet Spirit -

    Wonderful post! It reminded me of the song, "It is Well With My Soul." The author had just lost several family members in a tragedy. Yet, he rested in the Lord and trusted Him with his life.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You do a beautiful job of encouraging others...you are a blessing!
    Hugs, andrea

    ReplyDelete
  3. My mom was a great example of taking misery and turning it into joy.

    Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like this scripture as well. I agree, I think that one facet of the challenges we face is how we handle it and what our witness is to others.
    It brings to mind another of my favorite scriptures, Psalm 43:5.
    Blessings,
    Karen

    ReplyDelete

I would be honored to hear what you think about this.

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