Advent 2022 – Day 15
Sunday, December 11th
Where Is The Joy?
By Jim Baugh / Season of life: 77, Retired, Avid reader and fisherman
Scripture
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ~ 2 Peter 1:3
Eighteen and a half years ago I felt like I had lost my joy. I was going through a divorce and was devastated by this event. I reached out to God, but I found that my connection was not very strong. This was disappointing because I felt that I had a pretty good relationship with God.
Through a lot of prayer and soul searching, I became aware that I was missing something in my relationship with God. I realized, painfully, that I knew a lot about God, but I really did not know God as my heavenly father. My relationship with God was a head thing, not a heart thing.
Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:1-10, “His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life…” but it is conditional on getting to know Him better. It dawned upon me that I did not know Jesus very well, and that the answer to my struggles could be found in getting to know Jesus better.
Not just knowing about Jesus, but truly knowing Jesus… This was a new approach for me, but it opened the door; and, I started asking the questions, and God was there to help me understand the answers. Through the years, I had read and studied the Bible, but I had never gotten involved in serious discipleship training, learning more about living for God. That part of my life changed, and my devotional time took on a more serious effort. I wanted to learn more about my heavenly father; but, more importantly, I wanted to have a close, personal relationship with Him.
It was just as Peter had promised, “…as we get to know Jesus better…” the answers will be provided.
I received a lot of encouragement during this time from God. This led me to get involved in small groups and in serving others. All of this allowed God to disciple me. Oh, yea, the joy that I thought I had lost was still there, but it was more like a smoldering coal. As I surrendered more and more, that coal began to come to life and grow in intensity. I can honestly say today that God was there all the time, but I had lost touch with Him. It took a major “course correction” for God to get my attention, but now I can say that I have “Joy”.
Closing Prayer
This is my daily prayer: “Lord, help me to know you and your ways, and to be willing to follow You every day. It is my desire to KNOW You,
and to show you in my daily living.”
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Reflections
“My relationship with God was a head thing, not a heart thing.” In what way might this phrase also be true (or how has it been true) in your own life?
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Take a moment and read 2 Peter 1:1-10. What words or phrases jump out at you?
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In what way could you spend time getting to know God better in this season of your life? ______________________________________________
Lord God, may I “repeat the sounding joy” of who You are today!