In Pursuit of Joy

 

Not on purpose, but the verse I chose for our Fruit of the Spirit lesson on Joy fits well with the reason Ken and I are here together this time.

Nehemiah 8:9-10

“Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This is sacred to the LORD your God.”

Just some background for a second. Nehemiah was a leader of God’s people during a time when they really needed encouragement and motivation to rebuild. Literally and spiritually. There was a lot of hard work involved, for sure. That’s why they were crying. They had been listening to the Scriptures being read and had realized just far off the mark they had gone.

But in this part of the story, Nehemiah’s got them all making plans for a serious party. Stop crying, he tells them. Go party.

Not surprising, since all through the Bible there are these kinds of celebrations described that have everything to do with worship.

And the reason these words seem so fitting is that it’s almost like that’s exactly what Ken and I have done for this trip. Made preparations for one big party of thanksgiving and joy.

Without question there is so much joy for me here. And to have Ken here this time, particularly this time to mark our 45th wedding anniversary, well, that just amps up the joy factor to the ‘nth’ degree. (A little math notation in his honour here.)

There’s the joy in the kids themselves, watching them interact, doing their chores early in the morning – and singing while they do so! Singing is part of the joy in both morning and evening worship time of course. When we’re reading together, and there’s a joke we all get in a book or in something someone said. And in the wild spontaneous hugs of the little ones.

So yes. These very brief two weeks are hands down full of joyful worship for us.

But Nehemiah isn’t done.

“Do not grieve,” he says, “for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (v10)

The people have come through a lot of heartbreak and utter devastation to get to this place. The joy Nehemiah is reminding them of doesn’t come from the lack of hardship. Instead, joy here seems almost a defiant thing. It’s like he’s calling them to a higher level of joy. The kind of joy that would have them declare: We choose joy.

For the lesson I tied two butterflies (from the Dollar Tree in Midland ) on the ends of strings attached to bamboo poles. Ken and A-new (our male staff team member) dangled them just out of reach of Wan-Mai and Jua who, when chasing the butterflies could not catch them. But when they sat down with a friend, in this case Bee-Mai who eagerly volunteered, and May, who only needed to be asked, each of whom had a Bible in hand, and when they ‘pursued God’ together, the butterfly came and landed on their shoulder.

Forty-five years of marriage and the story of building a life together will quite expectedly have chapters of heartbreak and utter devastation. At least ours certainly does. There have been times when joy didn’t seem like it could ever be part of our picture.

But did we pursue joy for joy's sake, or God? I’d like to think we pursued God, of course I would. But who can really know? Looking back, I think we did make hard decisions together to love more than try to fix, extend grace more than judge, make eternal investments. And when times were wretched, hang on with white knuckles to the belief that God is good and knows what He’s doing.

We didn't do it perfectly, not at all. Who could claim such a thing? But little by little? Challenge by challenge? I do believe it’s been the collective life purpose of our marriage to pursue God together.

Whatever, all I know in these moments right now is that the joy thing is pretty party-ready strong here and now.

Today we expect a happy visit from Esther. Tomorrow, a trip to Doi Intanon. Our scheduled meeting for the Management Committee of New Family Foundation is Wednesday. The week looks full.

Keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I truly hope you are finding joy in whatever is before you this week!!!