“This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
There is determination in that
posture. There is intentionality. We will, we determine to, we intend it,
it is our purpose. So joy and a grateful outlook are more than personality,
more than a good night’s sleep, more than the background of a happy childhood,
more than the right circumstances, more than the right body chemistry, more
than good relationships. They are more than all the bullet-points that would go
in a how-to-be-happy book.
Basic intentionality.
We will rejoice and be glad.
We will.
It’s also plural. We will.
Me, yes, but me with. The others in my life, whoever they are, matter.
They are part of the ingredients in the recipe for joy. And it’s the we
in my life who can intend to rejoice and actually carry it off. We.
And it’s this day that is the
setting—the context if you will—when all the joy happens. This very day. Not
the past, as fine or as painful as it might have been. No nostalgic longing for
what was or what might have been. And no blaming past tragedies, pain, abuses
or mistakes for any present inability to rejoice. No.
And no looking to the future and
thinking that if only this circumstance, or these people, or this place, or
this much money…. No.
Right here. Right now. With these
people. In these circumstances. This is the day. We will rejoice and be
glad in it. And in no other.
Because this is the day that the Lord
has made. Now we’re down to basics. Sovereign God has made, sustained, and
given to us—this day. Because God is in it, behind it, before it, and
surrounding this very day, it is possible. The joy is possible. It is possible
to trust God to take care of us. To supply our every need. To help us forgive
the past, be healed, and move forward with hope into the future. A future that
will be full of days that God will make.
Because of God we can be in today.
We can fully inhabit this day. This is the day. We can wisely intend to rejoice
and be glad.
Rejoice—make a habit of
joy. Re-joy. Do it again and again. Because of God, our source and
sustainer. Be glad. Be—a verb of being. A state of being. An
habitual way of life. Gladness. Gratitude.
Oh, Lord, Holy Spirit of God.
Enable us today to seize the moments, to rejoice and be glad. Today. Because of
you. Amen.
Whenever I read something like either this verse or your reflections on it I can't help but think "what would this sound like to someone in Syria today? to a refugee who is being refused entry into a safe country?" I have to hope the invitations and wisdom in the Scriptures are applicable in all contexts. Thanks for challenging me to wrestle with this again. I know, I know, you were focusing on joy and got all serious again. I get to joy this way--being reassured that joy is available in the darkest places.
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right. Thinking of Syria or many other places puts a whole new slant on this concept. I guess this is where the Psalms of Lament come in.
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