— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
On our recent church Weekend Away in Alsace, Geoff and Marie-Louise Read shared with us some key insights on the topic of “joy”. They outlined 12 ideas about what joy encompasses and its role in our lives; they also reminded us that besides being created for joy, it is a command and not an option (“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4), yet at the same time God enables and empowers us to be joyful.
On the first evening, before the sessions got started, a number of people shared their ideas on what joy means and after this brainstorming, joy seemed less elusive! Among other ideas, we defined joy as… being connected to hope, not based on circumstances, something within and not imposed, it means sharing the joy of others, sharing our resources with others, it’s granted and enhanced by the Holy Spirit and some said that joy, essentially, is Jesus!
For me personally, comprehending joy has been somewhat of a life-long journey; as I focused on English literature during my studies, with an emphasis on tragedy and, for this reason, I was also fascinated for many years by Russian novels and short stories. At some point, though, I concluded that tragedy wasn’t as deep as I supposed, it certainly didn’t lend to any upbeat pointers for real life and it eventually dawned on me that joy was by far the deeper and more life-giving theme!
C.S. Lewis entitled his autobiography “Surprised by Joy”, detailing how he embraced the Christian faith and how he was surprised to find joy as an unforeseen companion to his new beliefs. He found God as revealed through His son Jesus, and he got joy thrown in. I can well relate to this in my own life – moments of great joy through worship music, overwhelmingly beautiful nature or sensing the presence of God. But why is this deep joy too often fleeting? Can we possibly maintain it in our daily lives, even each moment? Can we sense this joy even in the midst of pain and sorrow?
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
The key here seems to be trust. If we know and trust who we are in Christ, then this gives us an identity and security which cannot be shaken. Beyond this, we also can experience the unsurpassable joy of knowing Him – and this is a joy which no one and nothing can take away. Moreover, joy is rooted in who God is and what He has done for us. Geoff suggested we remind ourselves not “who I am” but “whose I am”, or “to rejoice in the Lord is a conscious remembering of whose I am”.
“You deserve the greater glory
Good and Gracious King, City Alight
Overcome with joy I sing
By Your love I am accepted
You’re a good and gracious King”
Dear Lord,
Help me to have deep, abiding joy in my life. Help me to trust in you and remember that You are with me and I am yours forever.
In Jesus name, Amen
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 