Joy Stealers

This afternoon our dog came walking into the living room with wet feet. We thought at first she had managed to get back into the house after the morning rain without getting her feet dried. Then we realized she hadn't been outside. The water was inside. One of our toilets had been running over...for a couple of hours.

Water went everywhere and ran along and under walls. The house will survive. It's nothing water extraction experts couldn't handle for a nice payday. Right now we have 10 blowers and two dehumidifiers running like jet engines in one end of our house. As a result, we've had to cancel our holiday plans to travel to see family.

In times like these, I find my joy reservoir leaking badly. I think about family travel plans for this week sidelined; schedules rearranged and now scrambled to make those family plans possible; the cost of repairs coming right after Christmas expenses; the inconvenience and still unknown impact of the damage. My joy begins to drain away.

I arrived at my office to prepare for Sunday morning preaching and worship with all these things pounding through my head. I took a deep breath and prayed a "soul-settling" prayer and asked the question, "What is your joy worth? Would you give it up for a calendar change? Would you give it up for some dollar amount? What is joy worth and what would you give it up for?"

My answer...my joy is too valuable to give up for any of these things. My Savior purchased my joy at too high a price for me to give it up so easily. Don't yield your joy to lesser things. It is a gift from God. "Be joyful always" (1 Thessalonians 5:16, NIV).