A Reflection On Joy

The Connections community is spending the holidays studying the topic of JOY. You can check out our Teaching Blog or Pod Cast Site if you are interested in where the conversations have gone.

We asked a new friend to our community who likes to write, Kathy Curran, to spend some time reflecting on the topic. Her thoughts are below. Enjoy!

When I began to research the concept of joy and how to be joyful, many peole shared their views on the subject with me. As I listened carefully, I started to see a common thread. It seemed there were certain steps involved in achieving this very attainable, yet somewhat difficult goal... the first and most important one being to literally "step out in faith."

Feeling the need to delve even deeper into how we can accomplish the act of becoming joyful, I sought help from other Christians, scoured the Bible, attended worship services, and just kept my eyes and ears open for whatever the Lord wanted to bring to my attention. It was like I was on a mission for God.

Having taken on this task in obedience to God, He, in turn, was faithfully speaking to me through every means available, and leading me down a path that was definitely taking me in the right direction. He revealed to me that it is not another person who will ultimately heal our hearts, make us whole, or give us the peace and contentment we've all been searching for, but it is God, and God alone who can take us to that place we all long to be... that place where we no longer have to depend on anything other than Jesus for our joy.

As I continued to seek His Word more intently, and become more in-tune to God's voice, I began to realize with even more certainty that He really does have all the answers. He was urging me to be even more obedient, and I was becoming very aware that stepping out in faith wasn't just meant for those who lived back in Biblical times.

Just as Peter stepped out of the boat in faith, God wants us to take that big step too. Peter trusted God to keep him afloat, and as long as his eyes were on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. God loves and cares for us just as much, and doesn't want us to be afraid to take that leap of faith. He promises to be there to help us, if we begin to sink.

Because God loves us so much, He wants us all to be joyous, but we need to find our joy in Him. If we truly love Him, we must learn to trust Him, no matter what our circumstances. If we really trust Him, we will obey Him, no matter what He asks of us... and it is in that unconditional love, trust and obedience to Him that we will find true and lasting joy.

Matthew 14:22-33

Peter replies, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." So Jesus invites Peter to come. Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and sees the wind and waves, he begins to sink. Peter cries out to the Lord and Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches Peter. As they climb into the boat together, the storm ceases. Then the disciples worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."