Our sin runs deep, yet despite our faults God remains faithful. Faithful to demonstrate his love when we reveal our broken spirit in our books. Faithful to provide wisdom to others when we divulge our deepest thoughts in our devotionals. Faithful to comfort others when we share our stories in blog posts.
Because he is faithful, we can write with a broken spirit and offer our brokenness to God. Then he can use our words for his good.
Psalm 51:17 (ESV)—The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Job 42:2 (ESV)—“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Cue a sad face. Our household had been struck. With the virus. The excitement of our weekend getaway dissolved like salt in hot water, the salty brine a damper on our weekend, no more so than when I hit the Cancel Reservation button for the very first time. Sigh.
Have you ever tried to hit the Cancel button on God? Cue an inward cringe, because who hasn’t been there? Hitting this button obscures the truth that God is sovereign. The message confirming the cancellation says we’re free to question, complain, and challenge God, because why else does debt rule our lives, why did our friend abandon our relationship, why did our child die in a car accident?
The answer to these questions (and more): God is sovereign. He has the power to give and take abundance. Just ask Job.
Thankfully, God also rejects our cancellation request. He fixes our broken spirit, giving us eyes of faith and lips that confess and repent. He restores our souls.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV)—And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
On the day I visited the Grand Canyon, clouds softened the rays of the sun, except for one brilliant spotlight of sunshine far in the distance. This spotlight offered the hope of warmth on this breezy thirty-some degree day, where the shadows on the rocks made the canyon look like a painting, the layers of red and beige sandstone in stark contrast to one another and the sheer cliff face dotted with patches of snow and shrubs.
In Deuteronomy 30, Moses reminded the Hebrews of this spotlight of hope. He said that if they’d turn their lives over to God, fully and completely, they’d experience a stark contrast from curses to blessings and they’d no longer be scattered like shrubs throughout the lands. God would turn the spotlight on them, gathering them together and circumcising their hearts.
God’s promise reaches us today. If we turn our lives to him, working toward our eternal reward, he’ll shine his spotlight on us, gathering us in Christian community and circumcising our hearts to restore our spirits.
Proverbs 17:22 (ESV)—A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
When it comes to vacations, I am a planner. I schedule events on a calendar for each day of my travels. But at times I misjudge the distance from one place to the next, or I don’t plan enough time for an event, and suddenly my elaborate schedule crumbles. I internally berate myself for messing up the situation, arms crossed and shoulders slumped.
In a matter of moments, my joyful heart sinks into a pit of mire. The activity I once looked forward to threatens to derail my vacation. The mud in the pit slowly sucks away my ideal plans.
The easy answer is to wallow in the mud—and sometimes I do, as my story reveals. The better answer, though not always the easiest, is battling the mud and pulling myself back to joy. And such a battle requires the right tools, beginning with the Bible’s guidance.
A few of my go-to verses that remind me to seek joy come from Philippians 4:
Verse 4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Verse 6: ” Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Verse 8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
These verses remind me to focus on the positive. They lift my spirit and allow me to finish my vacation with a spirit of joy.
I encourage you to highlight in your Bible and memorize a few verses that provide you the medicine of joy. Practice making these your go-to thoughts in your travels and in your everyday life.
