To all you pastors, lay leaders, volunteers, and congregation members who are rapidly adjusting, adapting, and trying new things, some of which are going well and others which aren’t going well at all, don’t forget…
God is rejoicing over you!
In the midst of an unprecedented Holy Week, when so many people are experiencing anxiety, fear, and isolation, don’t forget…
God is rejoicing over you!
So many of us these days are looking for a silver lining, insisting on hope, resolving to dig deeper and find some source of joy. This is admirable, but it’s hard work, isn’t it?! And often, it’s simply unsustainable. In those moments when I hit the wall and realize that I can’t muster up any more joy, it occurs to me that the deeper joy that actively resists and overcomes despair starts not with me, but with God’s joy, and God’s joy over us. I recall the words of scripture:
Remember the words of the prophets, Zephaniah:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:16-17)
….And Jeremiah (God says) ‘Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’ (Jeremiah 32:41)
Or the Psalmist “the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory” (Psalm 149)
Finally, Jesus’ words of John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made complete”
Indeed, during this holiest of weeks, may we recall that Jesus reveals himself to us so that God’s joy may be in us and made complete. This is perhaps difficult for us to comprehend and experience, but it may also be one of the most fundamentally transformative elements of the gospel, that God graciously and unconditionally accepts you, loves you, rejoices over you, sings over you.
May God surprise you with joy this week.
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