Joy

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:7.

My last post touched on Davids state of "joy". I described this as a state of being rather than a emotion.

The verse above indicates that the lives of those who were listening were having difficulty, perhaps suffering and struggle (the verses before 7 outline this and put it into better context). We only have to look at history, look at people we know(both believers and non-believers) to know that this is so. In fact the bible seems to indicate quite clearly that taking Jesus seriously almost guarantees that our lives will be difficult.

It seems that drawing into a "with-God" life brings with it a peace and joy which will be robust enough to withstand pain, suffering, struggle. It will guard my soul, heart and body as I weather the storm. Comforting thought.

Usually when my life goes pear-shaped, I drift away from God. Perhaps this is because I haven't been practising "keeping the Lord always before me" for very long. Perhaps as I get better at doing this, I will be more likely to have a soul that is conditioned to peace and joy - whatever the situation.

"The peace of God, which transcends all understanding". With God comes a lot of mystery.