Where Is Joy When You Think It's Far Away?
“Joy is prayer — Joy is strength — Joy is love — Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” — Mother Teresa
The circumstances in life do not always bring about happiness
But this doesn’t mean that we cannot find joy where we are.
Ours is the greatest joy in knowing God Himself, God who came down from heaven, suffered, died and lived again to give us eternal happiness.
And so in whatever situation we may be, we have joy, if not in actual possession of it, in our certain hope that it will be ours.
Joy Always
Joy is with us always,
in our hearts and in our hands,
in our triumphs and in our failures,
in our fullness and in our emptiness.
For how could we be far away from it?
How could we ever be so far?
Joy can be found where God is,
and God is always where we are.
I will tell you what my joys are –
in suffering, it is Christ
in sickness, it is healing
in dying, it is the thought of new life…
in defeat, it is in future triumphs
in silence, it is prayer
in confusion, it is wisdom…
in calamity, it is being able to repent
in poverty, it is the charity I may give and receive
in sacrifice, it is the presence of love…
in blessings, it is my gratitude
in uncertainty, it is hope
in happiness itself, it is the thought of
far greater joys and of eternal bliss.
Joy is here —
Joy in my past
Joy in my tomorrows,
Joy always,
And always, JOY!
“Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10, WEB-BE)