In and Of the Lord
PHILIPPIANS 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.”
NEHEMIAH 8:10 “…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The last blog I posted, I talked about my gallbladder surgery. Since then, two weeks after my surgery, my brother and I went to Oklahoma City to visit our 95-year-old aunt. Our cousin felt we needed to go see her, because she was not doing well. Two days after we got home, our dad passed away. A very difficult five weeks.
My 92-year-old dad had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks, with a bad UTI. After leaving the hospital he became bed ridden, not even able to sit without support. About four months before his death, he had been living with me for a year and half. It became evident, in February of this year, that my 70-year-old body and mind just could not take care of him anymore. His leg muscles had muscle atrophy because, after he fell October 12th of the year before, he was afraid he was going to fall again; so, he did not get up and move around very often. I just could not lift him safely for either one of us or attend to his needs.
Before he went to the hospital for the UTI, he had been living in a long-term care facility where he had made his new home. We surrounded him with pictures of his family and John Wayne. (He was a huge western fan, especially of John Wayne!) Before he became bedridden, he taught a Bible class there. The nurses helped him get into his scooter and he went to where they met. He also, talked to the people who were helping him, about the Lord.
In the middle of the sorrow of losing him, the thought came into my mind of feeling guilty or to blame myself for his passing, because he should have been still in my home, not in the facility. 1 Peter 5:6 reads “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The devil was trying to sneak into my mind and heart, even when I was in the middle of my sorrow. No, I do not blame myself for him not living with me or for his passing. I do not have any regrets. I took care of him the best I could. I am thankful for that time he lived with me, even though it was extremely hard and he was demanding; but I am happy and thankful for that special time.
In Nehemiah 8:10, the priest, Ezra had read the Law. The people listened to the words from the Lord. The people, in verse 6 of that chapter, lifted up their hands, bowed their heads and worshipped God. Verse 9 says, “…all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.” They mourned because all of the Law had not been kept. Verse 10 says Nehemiah, Ezra, “…and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; (the feast of Trumpets) do not mourn nor weep.” They told them to go celebrate, because that day was holy to the Lord. Then Nehemiah said “…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” This joy of the Lord is the joy that springs up in our hearts because of our relationship to the Lord. The joy was not based on how many possessions they had or what they had done or not done, but how gracious God had been to them. The true joy! When we have as our goal to know more about the Lord, the by-product is His joy.
I am so happy when I get to be with any of my grandkids. They are scattered, in different areas now. Can I say I am joyful when I get to be with them? Yes. But the joy that is of and in the Lord is so much more. The happiness that happens on this earth is not the joy the Bible talks about. The Bible joy is because we know that we have a heavenly home waiting for us one day-because we know that God loves us no matter what or who we are-because God gives us grace-because God has given us the assurance and hope of eternal life-because we know that God sent His only Son to earth to die for us. The happiness-joy, we feel here on earth is external or of this world. The joy of and in the Lord is internal-of the heart and soul. True joy comes from the Lord, not from anything on this earth.
The verse above in Philippians, says to rejoice “in the Lord.” The verse in Nehemiah, says we get strength because our joy is “of the Lord.” The key to get joy in both these verses is, the Lord! When we have that type of joy, we can go through difficulties of this earth and still have joy. The joy of Christians is not based on agreeable circumstances. We can have this kind of joy whether we are: grieving-having to move from our home because of foreclosure-in bodily pain-feeling left out and alone-worried about the outcome of tests and pending surgery-worried you will fall because of your age-loss of your job and so many other pains of this earth. Instead, it is based on our relationship to God.
When Paul and Silas were in prison (Acts 16). They had been beaten-clothes torn off-feet secured in stocks-put in inner prison and yet, they were joyful. Prisons in Bible times were not anything like our prisons these days. Prisons were harsh-heavy chains-poor sanitation-extreme darkness and they relied on family or friends for basic food needs. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them.” (verse 25) They were in one of the worst places on earth, just because they were teaching about Jesus. But yet, they were singing and praying. They were even teaching the other prisoners and the jailor through their singing and praying. They had the joy in and of the Lord! They knew that their circumstances on this earth were not important, but rather their hope and joy of what was coming when they left this earth!
Hebrews 12:2 tells us, talking about Jesus, “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus endured so much hate and pain on this earth, but His attention was not on the worldly agonies of the Cross, but on the crown; not on the suffering, but the reward. In the same way, we need to not focus on the pain of this earth, but the joy of the promises of our Lord!
Even though I grieve losing my dad to death, I can still hold onto the joy of and in the Lord, because I have faith in the promises God has given us of a future; a joyful resting place with Him. That is where my dad is now. He is experiencing that amazing joy of and in the Lord, with a home in heaven with God. As tears roll down my cheeks while writing this, and I walk on this path of grief, I am joyful that I have that promise too! That, is my God given strength through the Lord’s joy! Praise God!
Till next time!
Keela
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”