Joyful Living

Joy, that verse that I have heard so much. Nehemiah 8:10 says, "...the joy of the Lord is my strength." It seems to have continually run through my mind for the last several months. Okay God, I understand I am to have joy – joy in my home, my marriage, with my children. We are on a roll for about 2 hours, then something doesn’t go right and the joy – what joy? A few days later I remember – joy! Yes, I have the joy of the Lord and we start over again.

What does joy have to do with it anyway? I started looking up scriptures with "joy" in them. When I arrived in Nehemiah 8:10, I looked up the Hebrew meaning of the word "joy;" it is rejoice! The rejoicing of the Lord is my strength. That had such different meaning to me. Rejoicing puts action to the joy. A few days later, I was working with my two young children. It had been a rough morning and the Lord reminded me of this verse. I thought, I don’t feel like I have anything to rejoice about with two crying kids. He immediately showed me I did. “Stop looking for things to rejoice in with your natural eyes and rejoice in Me. In Me, you have everything to rejoice about.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, ”...things which are seen are temporal..." In other words, things which are seen (with natural eyes) are subject to change.

“You will have problems in your marriage." "You will have hard times and fights." "They are just going through the terrible twos." "Just wait until the adolescent years." "Well, you just need to find yourself.” The list goes on and on. They are all LIES. Nothing but lies from satan – and most people believe these lies more than the truth found in the Word of God.

The best advice I received when I was getting married was, “Nowhere in the Word does it say you have to have fights and hard times in your marriage.” Quite the contrary, the Word says that when a man finds a wife, it is a good thing.

Each day I have choices to make. Do I submit to and honor my husband regardless of his mood? Do I fill my home with joy? Do I sing and rejoice with my children? These are things that I alone cannot do. Jesus is my answer. I can do all these things through Him. Jesus can always love us even when we are not lovable.  I need to fix dinner for Jesus, do laundry for Jesus, clean house for Jesus, raise my children for Jesus.

When God looks at us, He sees the blood of Jesus. He sees the Body of Christ, not the church (organization), but the actual Body of Christ. No matter what my husband is doing, God looks at him and sees Jesus. Shouldn’t I always see Jesus when I look at my husband? Would I be more willing to rub his feet after a long day at work? What a difference it would make in each marriage and home if we would look at our spouses and children and see Jesus!

If you will begin rejoicing, you will find the strength to do what God has called you to do. 

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