A Joyful Heart
If happiness, joy, were a contagious disease how infectious would you be?
COVID changed the face, that is the face of America. Happiness, joy, was bleached from faces and for many has not returned.
If you have even the most faint smile on your face indicating a joyful heart you won’t have trouble infecting persons and soliciting a similar response. It can brighten things up. If you have a happy face about to break out you will never be short of friends. People who enjoy life in spite of challenges and an atmosphere of gloom are magnets of friendship.
Most persons who know the Bible, and they are not most persons, will remember, “ a joyful heart does good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17: 22)
There is another verse with a similar message: “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.” (Proverbs 15: 13)
There are a couple of descriptive aphorisms worth recalling often. Such as:
“If you have Jesus in your heart, notify your face.” And:
“Joy is the banner that flies over the castle of the heart when the King is in residence.”
It is people who typify these truths that people want to be around. They are friendship magnets, people are drawn to them.
The oil of joy is a medicine for those down and out, burdened, and sorrowful. A big gleeful smile is not suitable for every occasion, but a person who looks on the bright side of things and expresses the sufficiency of the Lord is.
Let’s face it, our tank of joy isn’t always full. We, too, have downcast occasions that drain us of things that give us happiness. It is then we must switch to our second tank and evidence the sufficiency of the Lord.
Be honest when you are down and out. Lift up your head and shout “I am down and out, BUT I can see the glory of the Lord even amid sorrow. There is a little known poem, the fullness of which eludes my memory of all but one line related to the fact one has not learned to live until he has learned to see the stars through the sycamore tree. The sycamore is symbolic of sorrow. The star is emblematic of bright hope and joy. The line is emblematic of seeing the best and brightest even amid sorrow.
If Nehemiah 8:10 which states “the joy of the Lord is thy strength” is true, and it is, how strong are you? Those words were spoken to the people of Israel as they stood among the ruins of their homeland from which they had been away in exile for years. If they could find joy in their darkest hour so can we by reminding ourselves of the sufficiency of God and His promises of provisions for us.
Got a problem? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3: 5, 6)
Smile, God loves you.