Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

• Psalm 43:4

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

• John 15:11

“Joy is the great note all through the Bible. We have the notion of joy that arises from good spirits or good health, but the miracle of the joy of God has nothing to do with a man’s life or his circumstances or the condition he is in. Jesus does not come to a man and say ‘Cheer up’, He plants within a man the miracle of the joy of God’s own nature. The stronghold of the Christian faith is the joy of God, not my joy in God. It is a great thing for a man to have faith in the joy of God, to know that nothing alters the fact of God’s joy. God reigns and rules and rejoices, and His joy is our strength. The miracle of the Christian life is that God can give a man joy in the midst of external misery, a joy which gives him power to work until the misery is removed. Joy is different from happiness, because happiness depends on what happens. There are elements in our circumstances we cannot help, joy is independent of them all.  …
“What was the joy of Jesus? That He did the will of His Father, and He wants that joy to be ours.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (December 21, from He Shall Glorify Me)

Sorry, I used the title of a song.  This is not a warm weather reminder that Christmas is six months away.  And I know no bullfrogs named Jeremiah, but I have heard there is one out there that is friendly.

No, this is about Joy.

When times are tough, and people around me are worried that they might never recover from the present setback, I tell jokes.  I try to distract them from the circumstances.  I lighten the mood.  And often I do it unconsciously.  It seems to be my fight or flight response.  I seem to tell the storm, literal or figurative storm, that they might take things away from me, but I am still standing.

Is that my inner Joy coming out?  Is that God working through me to help others see that God is still in control?

Members of my extended family would be saying there he goes being an idiot.  Then again, some of those saying that couldn’t smile when things were going great.  And maybe that is why I lean toward the funny side since almost everyone that I was related to growing up had mastered the sourpuss.

But God has this, whatever ‘this’ is.

And ‘this’ is easier to endure with a smile on your face.

Let’s tell the naysayers of this world that they have not won.  God is in control, and He brings Joy with Him.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.