The Joy Giver

Moses Family, November 2022 

I am now a resident of Marble Falls, Texas, about 3 hours south of Ft. Worth.  I moved here 2 weeks ago to offer help, as long as my strength will allow, to Hannah, Daniel, Nathaniel, and baby #2 coming in July.  It might also be better for me when my end-of-life care becomes more than I can manage.  They live close to a hospice service.  We’ll see if 2023 is the year of my ‘homecoming’ or if the Lord keeps me here through another 12 months.  Either way is fine with me.

So, for now, I am back to changing diapers, washing out poop, helping Nathaniel learn to walk, feeding him food, and making silly noises that makes him laugh.  I am set up in their guest room with my desk and a little kitchenette.  Sara brought me a larger recliner where I now sleep each night.  Because of my primary tumor getting so large, it’s hard for me to sleep on my side. So, sleeping on my back with my upper body slightly elevated helps with my comfort and helps minimize any morning nausea.

I hope your new year gets off to a great start.  Sometimes it’s hard to find joy in the world today, but joy can be found if we know where to look.  You probably won’t find it in politics.  With elections becoming more unfair and patriots fewer in number, we will likely never see the strong conservative America we once knew.  You certainly won’t find joy in our changing culture.  With our nation’s morals in free-fall and with lawlessness on the rise, it seems that the gates of hell have been flung wide open and the devil is having his way in every institution, from education to entertainment, from economic to political.

You may be among those who cannot find joy in their family.  Broken relationships, financial hardships, ongoing conflicts, and a host of other issues may be leaving you feeling lonely and left out.  You may even have had friends turn against you.  Maybe there have been changes in  your job that have taken away the satisfaction you once had.  Maybe you are struggling with a physical limitation or illness that has zapped your hope for the future.  It surely seems, at times, that when so many things may be working against you, joy is just a dream that can only live in the back-roads of your imagination.

But the joy described in the Bible is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that can only come when we have a healthy and growing relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ.  For the past 3 years, as cancer eats away at my body, my joy has come from resting in God’s mercy and sovereignty.  In His mercy, knowing that His graciousness is much bigger than my sinfulness, and in His sovereignty, knowing He will work for my good in all that He allows, even in the difficulties of life.  So, as you begin a new year, don’t look to the world to find lasting joy.  It’s not there.  Turn your eyes heavenward and experience the mercy and sovereignty of The Joy Giver.