Read: Luke 24:50-53
What does joy look like in your life?
When I first started dating my husband,
I was like a scared little rabbit. I had
been divorced after 25 years of marriage and was beginning to emerge into a new
life. After a year of being single, I started
dating a wonderful man, but there was a part of me that was terrified, fearful of
exposing my vulnerable heart.
When
he sent me flowers, my
heart skipped a beat. But, I remember confiding in my friend, “Why
is he being so kind and thoughtful? I’m
not sure I can trust it! What’s his ulterior
motive?” She said, “You know Mary, sometimes
people truly are kind. Sometimes they do things because they really are
genuine.”
I was experiencing the JOY of a new relationship,
but it was foreboding. I kept thinking,
“It’s too good to be true, I can’t believe it or trust it!”
Foreboding joy is “dress
rehearsal for tragedy.” It's preparing for the worst even when things are at
their best.
In Luke 24,
when Jesus appears to His disciples after His Resurrection, verse 41 says, “And
while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement . . .” They were experiencing foreboding joy! Can you blame them? On Good Friday, they watched as Jesus was arrested,
flogged, and brutally crucified.
After His Resurrection, Jesus continued
to appear to them, reassure them and teach them for 40 more days. As He prepares to physically leave them to
return to His Father, He speaks a blessing over them that holds inherent
power! While He disappears into the
clouds, they are not sorrowful, but filled with JOY!
The
disciples are radically changed by the fact that Jesus TRULY is alive, that
death had been defeated! The worship Him
and praise Him wholeheartedly. They no
longer held back or hid in fear and shame!
They joyfully and confidently did the things Jesus commissioned them to
do!
They wholeheartedly believed the truth of Jesus' resurrection and unending love for them, and the joy of that truth permeate everything in their lives.
Lord, help
me to press into the TRUTH that You HAVE risen from the dead! Your
victory proves that You are powerful, and nothing can stand in the way of Your
love, not even death! You will never leave nor forsake me! And as I
wait for the time when You will return to bring me home, I give myself,
joyfully and wholeheartedly to You. Continue to transform me, Lord,
and let this wholehearted, uninhibited joy touch every part of my life.
