Surprised By Joy

A couple of times in the last few days, I've found myself suddenly feeling waves of deep joy. These waves come from deep inside me, and often unexpectedly. ...

There is nothing unusual or even weird about this. It is in fact the normal christian life.

Joy is really the deep assurance that God is in control of our lives, regardless of the circumstances. Therefore, because God is good, life is good.

Happiness depends, literally on what happens. But joy is eternal.

We were created for joy. Many years ago, the Bethel Bible Series taught about humanity's original state as being a four-fold harmony- harmony with God, harmony with self, harmony with others and harmony with nature. Sin destroys this harmony, but Jesus restores it. When we turn our lives over to Jesus, harmony and joy are the natural result.

Unfortunately, many people lose sight of this. they spend their lives pursuing happiness, but ultimately find out it's an illusion. C.S. Lewis called his autobiography "Surprised By Joy", in part because he recognised that joy is not something we can catch- it rather catches us, often when we least expect it.

As I shared in an earlier post, many people reduce life to the relentless collecting of experiences, in the mistaken belief that a full life is the same as a fulfilled life.

Abundant life can only be achieved by pursuing God. If we are reconciled to God, reconciliation in the other parts of our lives will come as a natural result. Joy will flow as we lose ourselves in loving God and others.


Blessings

Keith

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