"Fun is temporary at best; it's risky, even dangerous, at worst. Joy, on the other hand, was a mystery I couldn't seem to decipher" -Liz Curtis Higgs
I always enjoy Liz Curtis Higgs. I've seen her speak a couple of times. Any interview I read or hear is a delight. She is full of wit and wisdom and the way she reads the scriptures brings them to life.
The first time I heard her speak, she talked about the mess her life was before she met Jesus. She was working in a Detroit radio station. He lifestyle was wild and reckless. He co-worker told her one day, "Lizzy, if you don't get your act together you are going to die young." That co-worker was Howard Stern. Yes, the original shock jock.
Not long after that conversation, she found her way to the foot of the cross. The "fun" in her life was fleeting. Temporary highs were followed by big lows. It was a roller coaster ride, but not a good one.
Fun and happy feelings are fleeting. Joy comes from a deeper well... a supernatural source. Perhaps it is still a bit of a mystery, but when we are plugged in to the power source, we don't have to be able to explain how it works. It is His Spirit working in us.
Offering our lives up as a living sacrifice doesn't mean our fun and happy days are over. In fact, it is just the opposite. There is a satisfaction in our souls that only He can provide. We can't fake it until we make it. We don't have to. We fight with our human nature...but when we finally surrender to His love...He fills us with joy.
"No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’" -Acts 2:26-28
Today, I am grateful for deciphering joy.
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