A Cause to Rejoice

Aren't we all looking for it? Something to bring us joy? I don't mean in the long run, or through our life's purpose, but during those small moments in time. Those mundane, stressful, ordinary moments that pile on our hearts and begin to weigh us down with a feeling we can't quite identify. When the worldliness and all it's minutiae makes us restless, and unsure, and unsettled. How do we find that joy we're looking for?

The good news is that Jesus is there. In all of it. In the littlest and seemingly most insignificant parts of our day. He's in that early morning sunlight, the warmth of it that kisses our sleepy eyelids and falls through the hazy clouds like streams of gold. He's in every flower growing by the side of the road, in the field, through the concrete. He made those flowers for you, because He longs for you to encounter creativity and beauty. He's in every person you see on the drive to work, the old man pushing all his earthly belongings in a metal cart, the woman who speeds past you in a blaze of car exhaust and piercing looks, the teenager staring blearingly out the back window with tired eyes and bedhead. He is there, in all those souls, and He loves them with a love that is both individual and all-encompassing.

He is there, so close. Closer than the very air that you breathe in and out. His presence is constant, in the laughter, the tears, the tiredness, the quiet, the paperwork, the homework, the conversation, the sleeping, the waking. Put your hand over your heart, feel it beat, feel the warmth of your skin, understand that He is singing your life into being, newly every day. He breathed this song into your soul from the moment of conception and hasn't stopped singing it, nor will He your whole life long. He is always thinking of you, watching you, and loving you. His hand is over all things.

Hold on to hope, and see that He is in the waiting. Find Him in those places that you never thought to look. Thank Him. Observe all things through His eyes, and you will begin to see as He sees. The gift and unbridled potential of little children, the significance in every kind smile and greeting, the blessings that come from hard work, from sweat, from difficult conversations. How He is working in the life of that angry, frustrated, or pessimistic person who is floundering to see the good. All is grace, all is beauty. He looks upon us, on all our tiny triumphs and struggles, with a love that is so extravagant it floods every single moment of our lives and flows into the ordinary, making it sacred.

He is sovereign over all things. He is victory, He is truth. All goodness comes from Him, and He gathers sadness, fear, and hurt within His outstretched arms. Our entire lives are His. Joy is ours for the taking, so how can we not rejoice with every breath?