1 Peter 1:8 NLT
'You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.'
Joy is something that impacts my senses. At the start of last autumn, I remember throwing open the windows at the back of the house one morning and being entranced with the scent of fennel from our garden that wafted across and filled my senses. It was a wonderful experience, shared by no one else. Even had Jayne been alongside me, there is no guarantee that she would have enjoyed the same joy that I did. We are all wired differently, yet God knows each one of us down to and including every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7)!
In much the same way, our love for God is unique. We live in an age in which so much of life is reduced to mechanistic models that ‘work’, removing both individuality and the personal touch in favour of efficiency. However, God has little interest in efficiencies, and every interest in each of us as an individually crafted creation. So, our experience of joy will be as unique as our life experience. If God is in the business of inviting me to become the fullest and best expression of myself, then the road I am invited to tread is as unique to me as my fingerprint. How wonderful that God does not look to the mass production of disciples. Christian faith remains resistant to industrialisation and utility.
It’s taken me years to identify where I find joy and then to have the courage both to speak this out and take steps to secure it in my daily life. As I’ve done so, I have become happier.
QUESTION: What brings you real joy? What might it take to organise your life so you might enjoy more of this joy?
PRAYER: I throw open the windows of my heart and ask that the aroma of Christ’s presence might fill my heart with fresh joy.

Released on 3 Mar 2020