Wednesday, March 18, 2009

His joy, my strength

H, when given the chance to choose a song on the ipod, generally chooses Chris Tomlin's "Holy is the Lord." Today when we were listening to it at the breakfast counter he set his bagel down to sing with a lifted hand when the song says, "We stand and lift up our hands, for the joy of the Lord is our strength..." Oh it made me giggle. He sang along for a minute before picking back up his breakfast.
Last week we were listening to H's request and that line really struck me, "The joy of the Lord is our strength." I looked it up in the Bible and it is in Nehemiah right after the rebuilt the Temple and Ezra read them the law. They were very sad and Nehemiah was trying to encourage them. I have been pondering on this verse for several days wondering how God's joy can give us strength. I think that when I can have confidence that God, who knows all, can be joyful, then I can rest in my day, trusting that he is caring for me and all the circumstances around me in his great power with his great wisdom. Then today a friend quoted Jim Elliot on her blog, "Wherever you are, be there fully." I think when we can rest in God's provision then we can live in the day, knowing he knows all and will be there in our tomorrow. I think we can strengthen ourselves in the Lord as Daniel did in 1 Samuel 30, when we tell ourselves of the character of God and trust him in our day-- this not only brings strength, but also peace.
Thanks H, for your request.

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