Day 14: Joyful Breakthrough

I remember a day

when JOY became a foreigner.

Ironically,

I had just written a devotional

about the JOY of the LORD.

I was overflowing with JOY,

as the words of Psalm 30:11 became my song,

"YOU have turned my mourning into dancing;YOU have taken off my sackclothand clothed me with JOY".

I had no idea

that before the sun would rise,

life would change.

It felt as though

a freight train

had come rushing through my house.

One moment

there was JOY.

The next moment

there was MOURNING.

I remember wondering,

"Where are You, GOD?"

"Where is the JOY I was just writing about?"

Fear and doubt

quickly became my companions,

and I felt as though

I had forgotten how to dance.

When I reread the devotional

later that day,

I cringed.

I remember thinking,

"How can I encourage others to rejoice when my own heart is breaking?"

Then GOD gently reminded me

that HE had known what was coming.

HE had prompted me to write those words

before the freight train arrived,

and before my circumstances changed.

It was as though

HE had lovingly prepared

a reminder

for my own heart.

As I read the words,

I realized

they were still true.

Not because my circumstances

had changed.

But because

GOD had not changed.

That day,

HE reminded me that when I write,

I am simply sitting with JESUS,

listening,

and allowing HIS TRUTH

to flow through me.

The words had not originated with me.

They had come from HIM.

And now

HE was using them

to minister back to me.

That memory often reminds me

of the beauty of CHRISTMAS.

Into a world

filled with sorrow,

GOD sent JOY.

Into darkness,

HE sent LIGHT.

Into MOURNING

HE sent

HIS SON.

The BABY in the manger

came to carry our grief,

bear our sin,

and conquer death,

so that MOURNING

would never have the final word.

The MANGER

points to the CROSS.

The CROSS

points to the EMPTY TOMB.

And the EMPTY TOMB

points us back

to JOY.

I still think about that day

whenever life feels heavy.

I remember how quickly

FEAR and DOUBT

tried to convince me

that JOY was lost.

But then

the HOLY SPIRIT

gently reminded me:

"The LORD your GOD is with you,the Mighty Warrior who saves.HE will take great delight in you;in HIS love HE will no longer rebuke you,but will rejoice over you with singing"(Zephaniah 3:17).

Little by little,

my heart began to dance again.

Not because

everything was suddenly fixed.

Not because

the pain immediately disappeared.

But because

JESUS was still with me.

For what is JOY?

JOY isn't a "what", as

JOY is a WHO!

JOY is JESUS!

CHRISTMAS has taught me

that GOD doesn't promise

a life without MOURNING.

HE promises

a SAVIOR

who enters our MOURNING

and leads us into

 JOY.

That experience forever changed me.

Whenever I read these words,

I remember

that even when life feels like a freight train,

GOD is still GOD.

HIS PROMISES

are still true.

HIS PRESENCE

is still near.

HIS JOY

is still available.

And HIS CHRISTMAS STORY

is still changing lives.

That is the miracle of CHRISTMAS.

From a manger...

to a cross...

to an empty tomb...

JESUS still turns

mourning

into dancing.

Because

 "JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever"

(Hebrews 13:8).

Oh CHRISTMAS IN JULY.

Oh CHRISTMAS ALWAYS

because

"MY GOD IS STILL THE SAME"

(listen to the song below)