When Joy Becomes Just a Word - a guest post by John Boring

This world can kick like a mule some days and when it does there's nothing but sorrow falling down around us and joy becomes just a word that has little meaning. 

That's when our focus goes inward and we gather our sadness like an old blanket and we huddle under it; waiting for some goodness to shine on us and bring warmth and relief into our life. 

This is how we hope to survive; believing that sorrow seeks out only the happy and ignores those already immersed in the muck of despair. 

We have no idea that sorrow begets sorrow, sadness breeds sadness and lack of hope produces hopelessness. When calamity comes to call, ignoring it and hoping for the best rarely works out in a favorable way. God created us as tender-hearted creatures, easily damaged and emotionally fragile. Our nature is to flinch when threatened and huddle when wounded; to seek out the protection of our clan if we have one. 

If we are isolated and alone, we seek only shelter; a place where we can hide and recover. Along the way to such a place, we set aside our faith and ignore the nearness of the Great Healer, the one who can hold our fractured hearts in his hands and heal our wounds. 

It takes great strength and courage to ignore the natural instincts that govern our need to survive on our own, and instead, turn ourselves outwards towards Christ and lay our life in His hands. 

It requires great trust and love for it is within those that we find that courage and strength. There is no shame in believing we can stand alone for that is our nature. But, there is hope and healing when we let Jesus stand with us when we are suffering. That was his promise to us all. 

The world will still kick but we are never alone in taking the blows. Christ lives, and through him we also live. 

God bless.

This post was written by Shelley Hendrix's friend, John Boring, and is shared here with his permission.