JOY-ing in the God of My Salvation!

One of the not-so-fun jobs necessary when raising laying hens is cleaning the sometimes very icky, freshly laid eggs prior to putting them in the refrigerator. Often times, they’re covered in chicken poo and even blood. Therefore, they need to be washed well and dried.

The other evening, I opened the carton of freshly gathered eggs and prepared to clean them. On the inside lid of the carton, something caught my eye. Tucked away unassumingly were these words — “This is the day that the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24).

“This is the day…” I thought, as I filled a container in the sink with warm, sudsy water. “TODAY?”

This had been the day of the long drive home from Kentucky with Allie, who’d had an icky tummy. Several times we’d stopped to clean out the plastic container she’d held in her lap. I’d been diligent to clean my hands often with Purell, with hopes I’d not catch her “bug.” (So far. So good.)

In all honesty, I’d battled on that journey home — fighting off irritability (partly due to lack of sleep the night before but also because of my thwarted plans) and feelings of joylessness. I questioned why things had happened as they did. And frankly, I moped a bit — wishing things had gone differently.

But when I got home and cleaned those dirty eggs — seeing that verse from God’s Word — I took pause (Selah). “This is the day that the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Truth is – God had made that day.

And I had a choice — to continue wallowing or to REJOICE.

Rejoice is an action word. It requires DOING. Not passivity. Not complacency. I could grumble. Or… I could REJOICE!

The next morning (yesterday), I opened my “Jesus Calling” devotional and read these words, “You are feeling weighed down…”  (Yes!) And then, the daily reading ended with a challenge — “… You can learn to be joyful in Me, your Savior, even in the midst of adverse circumstances. Rely on Me, your Strength…” (Feb. 19th)

The verses for further reflection were Exodus 3:14 and Habakkuk 3:17-19, so I turned in my Bible for further encouragement. And what I found amazed me! It said, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will JOY in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18 – NKJV).

There was that word again… the same one I’d found tucked away on the inside lid of the egg carton. “REJOICE!” But there was more. “… I will JOY in the God of my salvation.”

I WILL JOY…

The word “joy” is often used as a noun. (“The joy of the Lord is my strength…”)… as an adjective (“… make a joyful noise…”)… or as an adverb (“… dance joyfully…”).  But here – it is a verb… an ACTION word. Again, requiring me to DO something.

A call to CHOOSE to JOY!

To DO JOY!

TO JOY!

And so, I was reminded yesterday and am reflecting upon this again today… I can JOY in the God of my salvation.

Or I can grumble and complain.

The choice is mine (and yours) — TODAY.

I can brood and harbor a grumbling spirit OR… I can wash off the ickiness of irritability and despair and choose to rejoice despite my circumstances, by faith if not by feeling.

Yes, TODAY…

I will JOY!