Give In To Joy

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. - Psalm 107:2

Have you ever gotten so caught up in the brokenness of the world that it’s hard to rejoice? Perhaps looking at national politics or international crises or just at the brokenness of your own heart. There is an invitation in this prayer to face the hardship and yuck with great honesty (after all, it mentions “their lives ebbed away” and they “sat in darkness” and “drew near the gates of death”) but to do so with hope.

There are moments of redemption in each of our stories, and God promises that our final destiny is to flourish. Here is a piece of how the Psalm ends. Can’t you just feel the vitality and alive-ness that comes with a God-infused life?

He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish. - Psalm 107:35-38

So today, we’re going to run towards joy. Read over this remarkable quote from the poet Mary Oliver and take some time to embrace whatever pieces of joy and flourishing you can find in your day.

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.” - Mary Oliver