Joy of the Lord

I was thinking on Nehemiah 8:10 this morning, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." I never realized before that you could look at it as if God provided you strength and that was what gave you joy. We know that's not the meaning of this passage. As believers, we know our strength is not what gives joy. In fact, we know we're weak and need God. Ironically though, we don't need strength in ourselves, and we can in fact have joy as weaklings! How can this be? Because when Jesus calls you, He gives you all you need, including the strength you need for each day.


Strength should not be our focus though. Sometimes in life it is easy to lose focus. When grief hits, or hard times, or things that don't seem to make sense, where do we focus? It can be hard to pray at times. It is comforting to know that God does not scorn us in our weakness. He made us, He knows our weaknesses and He is there. His presence continues with us, despite our feeble faith, our frailties, our doubts of His goodness. Sometimes we are just worn out and wonder how we will go on. 

But just when we least expect it, we see a miracle; that despite our heartbreak, we have a joy we can't explain. This is how we know we are His. As Psalm 30:5 says,  ...weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 

I found joy where I least expected it today. I wish it for you.