2001 Charles Darby
Don't Lose Your Joy!
When I was growing up we lived on a farm. This was in the late 30’s and early 40’s. Depression days were upon us in America. Jobs were hard to come by. When a job could be found the pay was around a dollar per day.Needless to say we raised most of what we ate, on the farm. What we didn't raise, we hunted game, to eat. Sometimes we traded what we raised for something we couldn't grow.
Because my Dad and Mother worked hard we always had food on the table. We never went hungry.
We had a well on the farm, deep and solid rock at the bottom. The well never went dry even in the dry seasons. The water was always cool and fresh.
Most of you know what a well is like but for those who don't, this is how it worked. We drew this water with a bucket tied on the end of a rope. The rope was tied to a crank and up through a pulley at the top of the well and onto the bucket. This made it quite easy to draw a bucket of the cool refreshing water. It was so refreshing on a hot dry day and always renewed our strength.
Joel 1:12 (in part) “Joy is withered away from the sons of men.”
Nehemiah 8:10 (in part) “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”In a spiritual sense the joy of the Lord is our strength. With joy we have the strength to draw water out of the wells of salvation. Would not that make joy the “rope” to draw water with? With out joy we have no “rope” with which to get to the water in the wells of salvation! Without water we began to wither and dry up.
If you wanted to defeat an enemy and you found out what his strength was; would you not take his strength away? That is what satan tries to do to the Children of God. He causes bad things to happen in our life any way he can. If he cannot get to us he will get to members of our family. If you are a Christian and bad things began to happen; you could just know satan is behind it all. This is what happened to Samson.
He is trying to get us to lose our joy in the Lord. If he succeeds we will lose all our strength. Our “rope” is cut off so we cannot draw water out of the wells of salvation!
While satan is working on us, we must not forget, The Lord is with us and will not leave us. He is looking to see how we handle the problems. Are we going to trust Him or not? If God be for us, who can be against us! Ask for help if you need it, He is an ever present help in time of trouble. Ask others to pray with and for you. Everybody needs help, sometime. Never, never, never give up!
The joy of the Lord is not based on circumstances. It is based on the Lord Himself, who changes not! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! Psa 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. He would not tell us to do it if it were not possible! He is our strength and ability.
We who love the Lord must learn that in all things we are to give thanks and rejoice. This will cause our “rope” to work and we can draw cool refreshing water out of the wells springing up within us! Weeping may last for a few hours but joy will come when we began to rejoice and praise our Lord.We are on the winning side!
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Thank you for reading.
