⁷ "Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls"—Habakkuk 3:17


The past week didn't turn out like I dreamed and planned.  Our lovely week "off" that was to be filled with home and organizing, ended up with alot of running a and unexpected little emergencies, like an overflowing dishwasher!  Nothing of eternal consequence or really a truly serious problem.  We did have food to eat and a house this week~!  


But it had me down, angry-frustrated, tempted to despair.  Despair over lost time...that is a plague to me.  I thought of this verse and remembered that I needed to trust the Father, even in these piddly things that daunt me.  


When I looked the verses up again, I was struck by the fact that the passage doesn't really end there. There is more.....


¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18 NKJV


It doesn't end in "trust"...the trust ends in....joy.
One of the essential humus ingredients to grow joy is trust in the Father regardless of the circumstances.


This differs from trust in God to make everything "alright", whatever our definition may be.  As a dear godly woman taught me-think of the worst outcome of the situation you are facing or the most troubling fear you have.  
Now, is God big enough?
That is trust in HIM, who He is, His character, our relationship in Christ.
And that is the soil of joy.

Of course, a post about joy should be posted on Valentine's Day, right?  I believe this is the 28th V-Day my husband  and I have celebrated together...some joyous, some not so much.

This morning the children and I watched a song from one of my favorite children's dvd's ...Steve Green's Hide 'Em in Your Heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtP1cO6B3Y&feature=related

We discussed what love is...and what it isn't.  Love is a commitment to seek the other person's good, no matter what the cost.  That does NOT mean you should never have feeling for the person you are marrying.  But it's not about how they make your feel or what you do for them.  This we knew before we married.

But there is more that I needed to learn.

First, I needed to learn not to let my husband's eyes be my  idol.  Joy did not come from searching out my husband's eyes to see if he was proud of what I had said, done or accomplished. It was not trying to make his eyes twinkle in pleasure.   In fact, it devastated me, because I was looking in the wrong place.  I doubt I will ever forget the unbelievable conviction when my jealous God confronted me with the fact that I'd made my husband's eyes my idol.  Finally, I understood Isaiah when he cried " I am undone!".  While it was good to try to please my husband, it was not good to make my value or my joy dependent on it.

Secondly, I needed to learn not to measure my obedience to the Lord by my dear husband (or anyone Else's) response.  They may be having a  bad day.  They may be selfish  at the moment.  They may simply not notice-or care!  Our service is to be done as unto the Lord.

This is about my journey into joy.  I'm hoping it helps you with yours.  I'm hoping we can spur each other on and encourage one another along the Way.

 It is as vital to realize the counterfeit offers as well as know the true gem.  Your counterfeits may be different.  Is there something that you simply can't live without?  Something that you think you just can't function unless it's in place.  If it's anything but your Creator and Redeemer, it's an idol.  And our of pure love for you, He will let every one of those fail you til you are resting only in Him.  He is the One who loves completely, unfaltering, unending.  It is only when we live in His love that we will be in joy!

TO Caly'ry Lord, In Spirit Now
By Edward Denny

To Calvary, Lord, in spirit now,
Our weary souls repair,
To dwell upon Thy dying love,
And taste its sweetness there.
Sweet resting place of every heart,
That feels the plague of sin,
Yet knows that deep mysterious joy,
The peace with God, within.
There, through Thine hour of deepest woe,
Thy suffering spirit passed;
Grace there its wondrous victory gained,
And love endured its last.
Dear suffering Lamb! Thy bleeding wounds,
With cords of love divine,
Have drawn our willing hearts to Thee,
And linked our life with Thine.
Thy sympathies and hopes are ours:
Dear Lord! we wait to see
Creation, all below, above,
Redeemed and blest by Thee.

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/o/c/tocalord.htm


^{John 12: 12-14} buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross


Col 2:12-`4
John 12²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
²⁹ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."

The Father wants relationship. 
 I have often said that I think God's theme for my life is dependency.

You know He is a jealous God?  I don't know that I've ever heard a sermon on that one. 

He wants none to come before Him.  No idols.  Of any kind.  

There is no joy, but Him.   He is true beauty.  He is even true Truth.

 He wants me to know, out of the overflow of His love and grace, that I completely dependent of Him.

  He is my creator, provider, protector, and enabler.  
Without Him, I am not.  I have no purpose, passion or pleasure.  I'm vulnerable for eternity.  I can not unless He empowers.

He expresses His relationship to us in the most intimate of terms- husband, father,friend.  No relationship, no matter how carefully tended, manipulated or sacrificed for can fill this void.There is that "God-shaped hole
  "Pascal (1623-1662) wrote in his Pensees (10.148):¹

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. http://hindsfoot.org/godsha.html

 He expresses His relationship to us in the all encompassing, lord, creator, redeemer.  We simply are not without Him.  We don't exist.  We don't have purpose.  We don't have a future.   He is.  Without Him, we aren't.  

He is our Father, and our life abundant.  The existence He has given us is riddled with pain, difficulty, trail.  To believers, these things are expressly promised.  But that is not the end.  He blesses, encourages, gives all we need for life and godliness.   He wants us to live abundantly...in His economy.  We see through a glass dimly...

He is our joy .  His joy is our strength, not vice versa.  He is our hope.  Our Song.  

Our peace.  The circumstances simply do not matter.  As Paul, in whatever circumstances we can be content, knowing Him!

Father, we humbly ask for the reality of this to be more real each hour in our lives.  May being your redeemed creature be the center of identity.  May our relationship increase that it may be said of us that we walked with God.  For Christ and His Kingdom I ask.

Joy after Destruction

My dear heart-sister expresses herself as beautifully in pictures as she does in words....Contemplate her photo journal entry:

http://lauramichelephotography.blogspot.com/2011/11/beauty-in-breaking.html

When all is gone, when what is cherished is destroyed, what is left?
The Lord.  His Work. His sacrifice.  His glory.  His beauty.

Isaiah 61:1-3
 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, 
   because the LORD has anointed me 
   to preach good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
   to proclaim freedom for the captives 
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a] 
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor 
   and the day of vengeance of our God, 
to comfort all who mourn, 
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion— 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty 
   instead of ashes, 
the oil of gladness 
   instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise 
   instead of a spirit of despair. 
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
   a planting of the LORD 
   for the display of his splendor.

Noah is a 5 year old boy,  in the last stages of mito.  His mom, Kate Estes wrote on Facebook about the painful but necessary process of changing his suprapubic catheter:

"Whew. Tube change done, Noah sleeping.

It was really hard, mostly because Noah completely panicked once he knew what we were

doing. It took three of us to hold him down and everyone in the room was near tears

before it was done.
Maybe the most heart-rending part is just how incredibly sweet this boy of mine is.

Once everything was all finished, and while he was still doing those little "I've been crying

hard" breaths, he grabbed Dr. B's hand and told him, "You're the best of my heart and I

love  you more than the moon." He also gave me a big hug and a kiss on the nose. We

were so sad  for HIM and he was trying to comfort US.
They do not come any sweeter than this."

Remember my last post?

 This is the living example. 

Noah has been through more in his 5 years than most of us will ever have to endure in a long life. 

His parents have chosen to see God's hand.  I'm sure they led the way.  They have introduced little Noah to Jesus and lived it.  Now Noah is leading, being the example, loving.

http://www.prayingfornoah.com/p/noahs-story.html

Kate also freely friends folks on facebook that want to keep up with Noah and pray for his family.

I planned on listening to Nancy Rolinger, http://rolinger.org/index.php/bible/ladies-bible-studies,  but this came in my in-box, and I listened to it instead.  I was wondering what to share on my blog.  Now I know.   Enjoy!  It's well worth your time, even if you need to listen in chunks.

http://ellerslie.com/Eric_Ludy_Sermons/Entries/2012/1/8_Incorrigibly_Cheerful.html

This does not avoid any of the hard question.  I would not have listened to this a few years ago, just because of the title.  If the concept of cheerfulness is an aversion for you, or a strong desire, I urge you to listen!  Maybe more than once.