WORDS FROM W.W. July 11, 2014
“Coffee With Jesus…Third Cup”
“Refill?”
“Why not? Helps the pain get swallowed.”
“Let’s talk about joy.”
The shift startles me for a moment. The look I give Jesus reveals my surprise.
“It’s okay to experience joy, you know.”
“I know…I know, it’s just that it doesn’t rise to the surface of conversation very often. There always seems to be a problem to focus on, a difficulty to voice concern about, someone’s disgruntlement.”
“Well…let’s talk about joy!”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“How do you experience joy? Let’s start with that.”
“All you can eat jumbo shrimp.”
“Come on! You can do better than that.”
“How so?”
“That’s a craving you have produced by your taste buds. Let’s get to joy.”
“Jesus, you make it so difficult.”
“…when you prefer it to be easy?”
I pause. “Yes, probably so.”
“Most of life is spent “taking it easy”, so to speak.”
“What brings me joy…my kids, my grandkids, my wife, and even a 93 year old man named Rex.”
“What about them brings you joy?”
“The things they say, the things they do.”
“Don’t other people their ages say and do the same things?”
“I’m sure they do.”
“So perhaps the things they say and do are a ripple effect of what brings you joy. The joy comes from the relationships you have with them.”
“I suppose so.”
“Could it be that the relational joy you experience with them might simply be a delightful shadow of the joy your soul experiences when it is conversing with our heavenly father?”
“I’ll have to take a sip of coffee and think about that one.”
“Understand what I’m saying. My father created you and everyone else to be relational. The delight you experience when your grandkids make you chuckle is a small expression…and experience…of the joy that echoes out of your intimacy with God.”
“Then why don’t people talk about that more? Why do most of my conversations, especially in church, deal with solving problems, budget demands, and people’s warped view on life?”
“You live in a world of pessimists who, given the choice…to use a Biblical phrase, would choose to return to Egypt rather than go forward into a promised future.”
“Because they were familiar with Egypt.”
“ For some people history looks more glorious the further away you travel from it.”
“So how do I help others focus more on joy than sorrow?”
“This isn’t another “how to” problem to add to the agenda.”
“Okay, how should I phrase the question then?”
“Ahhh…another “how to” question rephrased slightly!”
“Sorry…it comes from living in a age of manuals, and “Dummy Guides.”
“Let me encourage you to begin with you!”
“How so…I mean, explain!”
“Instead of worrying about others, which as a pastor you’re ingrained to do, what about yourself? Why would you desire a joyous soul?”
TO BE CONTINUED
Words from WW Blog 