Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. ~Nehemiah 8:10
I attended a Concert of Prayer for our Compass Women this past week. And my heart was SO, so glad to be there. It had been a long week - Andrew was away for most of it, my boys were typically busy, and I had found myself out every night of the week as well. I worked full, full days - lots of care for students, their parents and caregivers, and follow up meetings with my Principal. My week ended with an appointment at the eye specialist where I had to have a second round of "surprise" laser surgery in order to seal a hole in my retina. I came home from this to prep my house for 35 teenagers to invade for two separate debrief missions trip meetings.
BUT - my heart is full. In fact, it is joyful.
BECAUSE - the joy of the Lord is my strength.
This truth hit my heart hard on Thursday night. That one simple phrase suddenly made everything make sense. In the midst of a really full (I REALLY don't like the word "busy"!) week, I suddenly realized where my strength needed to come from. It NEEDS to come from the joy of the Lord! HE is my strength - and my shield! I can have the strength to make it through my days and weeks because I can find joy in my Lord, because he shields and protects me. Gills Exposition puts it this way:
"The Lord is my strength,.... That is, the author both of natural and spiritual strength; that gave him strength of body, and fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was tried with;
and my shield; to protect and defend him; as were the love, power, and faithfulness of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his power and fulness, his blood, righteousness, and salvation;"
"The author of both natural and spiritual strength". Isn't that awesome? The author of our strength - the One who wrote it into being, the One who provides a supernatural strength - that strength that comes from somewhere other than within you. And it gives us "strength of body and fortitude of mind"!! I love that: fortitude of mind. Minute by minute I need a fortitude of mind that comes from a supernatural source: "...the love, power and faithfulness of God...his power and fulness". How can we not win our daily battles when we have that sort of power to tap into? My heart is full of JOY!
And this joy that ensues is also supernatural, it is a joy that is "very great, a joy unspeakable, and full of glory; it was not carnal, but spiritual, a heart joy, joy in the Holy Ghost" (Gills Exposition).
A heart joy.
A heart that is full of joy because the Lord has provided a supernatural fortitude of mind, and access to the power of God for protection.
A heart joy.
A joy that goes deeper, holds stronger, speaks louder.
A fortitude of mind that provides a heart joy.
Strength and joy.
Supernatural strength and spiritual joy.
Because even when life throws us a curve ball and our days do not seem ordered in any sort of way, we have a supernatural strength that provides us with spiritual joy. It doesn't mean we will be continually happy; it doesn't mean that we won't have troubles in this world; it doesn't mean that life will go as we even hope it will. But it does mean that when trouble comes, when our kids talk back, when our boss demands something beyond our scope, when we get that phone call that might change everything, when our friends let us down, when our husbands fail us, when we fail them...we can still find the strength to carry on because God has authored us with strength to make it, to do it, and maybe even do it with a joyful heart.
A heart joy.
The joy of the Lord IS my strength.
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