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Thursday, January 16, 2014

And Then Comes Joy

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy” (1 Peter 1:8).

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, even though I have never seen Him face to face. I have known He is with me in each moment of pain, and I have felt His touch when my heart has been broken. He lives in my heart, and that makes my life safe from all that comes against me. I may not see Him with my eyes, but I trust Him with my whole being. I have sought His wisdom, and He has graciously imparted His Word and its message to me. He is my life.

This verse imparts the truth that if I love Him with all my being, and I trust Him even though I can't see Him, then I will rejoice with a glorious and inexpressible joy. I loved and trusted Him for years with all my being, but this joy once eluded me. At one time it was beyond what my mind and heart could conceive.

Many years ago I discovered in a book by Catherine Marshall that there was something more I needed in my life. It was more than just living a sanctified life, and seeking His wisdom. It was all about surrendering all of me, and asking the Lord of the universe to completely fill me with all of Himself. One evening in Vicksburg, Mississippi, I asked the Holy Spirit to become all that I was incapable of being. I asked Him to fill me with His power and His joy. At first it was a fearful thing because I knew I was asking an all-powerful God to live in me in a way I had never experienced, and I knew it called for surrender of every part of myself. I began to praise Him, and He came as a gentle wind that claimed all of me. He brought all that I needed to be real. He brought joy.

There is a joy that is so deep and so complete that it cannot even be explained. There are no words. There is just Him.

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