TGIF
Like last week’s message, my motivation for today’s message also came from the devotional from Sarah Young in Jesus Always on Monday March 1. Sarah shared this message: I give you Joy in your journey through the world. This sparkling gift is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. There are bumps in the road ahead, as well as sharp curves, ascents, and descents. Without Joy in your heart, you will become weary and discouraged. Joy is not dependent on the circumstances in your life. It can transcend them all! This is why impoverished people are often more joyful than those who have material wealth. Sick – and even dying – people can also be joyful when they’re trusting in Me as Savior, Lord, and Friend.
This message made me think of instances in my life where I observed some of the happiest and least happy people in my life. I’ll begin with the least happy people I experienced in my life. This occurred early in my professional career in the early 1980s when I was blessed to work with a leading group of ophthalmic researchers who had introduced a new surgical procedure into the US to correct nearsightedness in people. The procedure was called radial keratotomy (RK) and it transformed many people’s lives who were now able to function effectively in life without having to wear glasses or contact lenses. This procedure was not covered by insurance at that time because it was not yet proven, but many people paid the required fee for this surgery to transform their lives. Most people were thrilled with their surgical results, so these physicians were paid a lot of money by their patients, and the patients revered their doctor for the attained surgical results. What could be a better situation you might ask?????
In the heyday of this new surgery, Cindy and I got to attend a lot of professional meetings with these surgeons and their wives to keep up with the progress of this surgery. Although these surgeons and their wives seemed to have it all – money, adoration, and large expensive homes and surgical centers, they were the most unhappy group of individuals we were ever around. Most physicians were on their 2nd or 3 (young) wife, had office managers who mismanaged their offices and cost them a lot of money, and were mortgaged to the hilt, all while trying to keep up with their competitors for these patients. As successful as they seemed to be, they had a hard time managing their busy and growing practices. Many of them later went bankrupt when this surgical procedure hit some bumps in the road and litigation became prevalent as well in some of their practices. For a group of professionals who seemed to have it all, these folks were easily the least joyful people Cindy and I have ever been around.
The happiest group I have ever known is also those with the least, as Sarah suggests. I was blessed to visit Los Mochis, Mexico 3 times as part of a mission team from Covenant Church under the leadership of Don Mauldin and his daughter Missy. On our first trip, we participated in the sanctioning of the church that had just begun. On our second trip there to build onto their church, the local people were so happy to have us back that they all offered for us to have our meals provided by them in their homes. Their homes were the most meager homes I ever entered, most were quite small with dirt floors and minimal furniture and limited menus. Yet, the food was the best I ever remember eating, and the people were so grateful to us for coming to Los Mochis to assist with their church building that they shared everything they had with us, and it was plentiful and very good and, most importantly, accompanied with much Joy and Love. Those truly Joyful and Loving dining experiences stand out as some of the richest, most rewarding, and Godly experiences I have ever had in my life.
I want to share one other experience I just had this past Monday while we are still in DC. I get to read a book (or 3 !) to my 5-year-old granddaughter, Greer, which is the norm for her going to bed most nights we visit. The book that night was a new one titled Home in the Woods and authored by Eliza Wheeler. This is a true story from the Great Depression of the experience Eliza’s grandmother and 7 siblings experienced with their mother. Their father had just died and the family of 9 was evicted from their home. Rather than the story focusing on the negativity surrounding them in their lives, the book recounts their true stories of growing vegetables, canning 40 quarts of blueberries each year, fishing and hunting for food, neighbors sharing together as they could to support each other, creating their own games and toys since they had no money to purchase any, and cutting firewood inside their tar-paper shack during the frigid winters to feed their stove. What an incredibly hard time it was for them, and yet they recall the memories from those years as some of their best. They all had purpose and found inventive ways to work together and make life fun and interesting. When this book was written a few years ago, 4 of the siblings were still alive and in their 90s to document their true story. What a remarkable story from one of the most difficult times in our country’s history, and how one family found Joy even in their darkest moments!
Habakkub 3:17-18 – Even if the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines, if the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food, even if the flock disappears from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will triumph in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
If everything that was normal and predictable in life collapsed, this prophet still calls for rejoicing, his longing and joyful desire for God is enough for him.
Psalm 16:11 – You will make known to me the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
AMEN!!