Letters to My Daughters: Choose Joy (Part 2)
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Dear Daughters,
Last time I wrote this: A deep, abiding joy will serve you
well in life—I encourage you to find it.
Still here.
Still encouraging.
Find joy.
Joy is a people-magnet. Joy is a relationship-builder. Joy
is a life-giver.
Find it.
So you’re probably wondering how. How do I find joy when I
am feeling so out-of-it at school? How do I find joy when I’m not sure what I’m
going to do with my life? How do I find joy when I feel like there’s a limited
supply and everyone around me has my share of it?
Some days I feel like I’m not the best person to answer
these questions—I’ve asked them all myself. Some days I feel the least equipped
to talk about finding joy because I let all of those Cs take over and my soul
is sapped.
And on those days, I run, RUN, to my Bible.
Recently I flipped to the concordance in the back of my
Bible and looked under the word “joy.” What I found astonished me, I’m ashamed
to admit. I should have known.
Nearly every reference to joy in my Bible concordance was
tied to God or Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. Yes, there’s the famous verse
in which Paul encourages the Philippians to “make my joy complete by being of
like-minded,” but mostly that has to do with their dedication to Christ, their
unity in Him.
Do you see where I’m going with this? Joy is tied up with
our relationship to God. He is the source of true joy.
I’ve told you this often, but I think it bears repeating
here: the only life worth living is one totally dedicated to Christ because
only in Him will you find true fulfillment.
Or true joy.
Just check your concordance.
So if God is our source of true joy, lasting joy, real joy,
let me be very obvious here and talk about what will not bring you joy.
Money.
Houses.
Cars.
People.
Stuff.
More stuff.
You get where I’m going. Every day you probably see people
trying their best to find true joy by pursuing things, but I’m telling you it’s
fruitless. The celebrities you see on T.V. can’t find it. People who look to
bigger houses or flashier vacations can’t find it. Even we ourselves can’t find
it apart from Christ.
Think about the travels we’ve taken as a family. Some of the
most joyful people we’ve met have been people who have barely anything that
this world would consider significant or important. But they have Jesus, and
that makes their lives rich.
Remember Iris in Brazil? This single mom had one son of her
own and was hoping to adopt two Brazilian children so that they wouldn’t have
to live on the streets. She didn’t
have much, but she had a roof over her head that she longed to share with
others.
Iris was also a fantastic baker, and she shared her skill
with us when she baked Kate’s birthday cake that year. I still remember the
smile on her face when she brought the cake over to help celebrate her
birthday. Even though Iris had very little in the way of earthly possessions,
that woman knew real joy.
You know this lesson in your heads—we’ve preached it to you
your entire lives—but take it into your hearts and know this for certain: true
joy can only be found in one place.
Seek it. Pursue it. Find it.
Choose it.
I love you,
Mom
