Meditation Mondays – Joy in Full

I know that if you based your opinion of my current life’s situation on the last week’s worth of posts (or lack of posts), you’d probably think that my very life has been crumbling around me. I assure you this is not the case. In fact, most of my life is full to overflowing with enormous examples of God’s lavish blessings.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s just one thing that can take up residence in my heart and just gnaw away at me. Such has been the case for my most recent test of faith. In fact, the very origination of my faith was questioned, and it has opened my troubled eyes to the seriousness of false doctrine. I’m not here to debate such topics, but I can tell you this: it’s a difficult experience. In the process, I must guard my own heart, and not allow myself to harbor anything false.

My husband uttered a profound challenge to me as we were working through this together. “Don’t let it steal your joy.” In the quest for knowledge and guarding and day-to-day struggles, its so easy to focus on the tough stuff and take my eyes off the source of my reason for existing – God.

This whole experience has led me to my current memory verse, found in John 16:22. In this chapter Jesus is preparing His disciples for His impending departure from earth. He says so many comforting things in the verses surrounding the one I chose to memorize, I just have to include them all in this post. May your heart also be encouraged as you read this with a heart that may very well be heavy with a legitimate burden of your own.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

~John 16:19-24