Joy

I can hardly describe how marvelous it has been to read the notes and comments that you all have left here over the last few days. Okay, I’ll be perfectly honest:  the support and praise and kind words have made my heart swell twelve sizes.In a good way.

And I couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t exactly the same joy that God felt when He stepped back from creation and said “It is good.” A joy that He feels every time we praise Him for His work, a joy that He wants us to experience too.

I’m convinced that something very God-like (dare I say, "godly") happens when we create well and rejoice in each other's work.  We are His children after all, made in His image. If He takes delight in creating well, why should we be surprised if when we use our gifts to praise Him and bless others, it results in undeniable and legitimate joy?

I think many of us are suspicious of this joy.

As a child, if you performed well, you were probably taught to defer praise, to offer it back in a stumbling returned compliment. If you worked hard and completed a project, you quickly learned to minimize the achievement. And so today, instead of simply saying “Thank you, I love what I do and it’s a privilege to serve you in this way,” we look down at our shoes and mumble obviously awkward phrases like “Praise the Lord” or “It was nothing.”

But what if God is a kind, heavenly Father who actually created us to take joy and delight in the work we do too? Who Himself takes joy in it?

Well, then, that is a joy not to be missed.