Joy Changes Our Sight

Would you like to see a bit of the Kimsey week? Can I pull back the curtain of illusion for you and welcome you in? The wrestling moments for this week include 

• one child with over 50 ant bites all over his feet that continually wake him up through the night, requiring cream and medicine; 

• a child struggling with impatience (quick to scream and create division), and impulsive who has single handedly broken 4 glass items just this week; 

• one who feels the loss of friendships, lonely and discouraged, longing for just one good friend; 

• one who recognizes their performance didn’t match the time and energy they invested in a project so everything about their skills, plans comes into question, pain and discouragement causing weeping and worry about the next demands; 

• another child caught breaking rules about computers and the internet, facing the truth from the Garden that we all cover our sins, seek to act good, while instead we go our own way; 

• another wrestling with massive changes in life plans, trying to walk now in places they never wanted to be; 

• another withdrawn, probably due to all the chaos in the home, seeking solace in a book, hoping to simply not cause any waves, placing pressures for performance, for “goodness” on their shoulders; 

• hearts are breaking for others close to us that we deeply love and are invested in who are hurting, dogged by the lies of the enemy; sadness for a close work friend who lost a son this week; weeping with friends over sin, the power of the enemy’s lies to deceive us and our children; desperate prayers for God to bring truth and hope to dark moments; a layer of doubt about a project nearing submission wrestling with the time it is requiring here at the end to complete.

The list can keep going, for we are all alive, therefore we are all wrestling not with flesh alone, but with spiritual forces who delight in derailing us. But one truth must be central. One core underpinning has sustained me this week as I have walked with each of these and several others. Joy is set because of what God has done, not because of my circumstances. Joy doesn’t depend on my responses, my choices, or my moments. Looking to His works, His salvation, and remembering His steadfast love translates to joy. My soul recognizes His grace, and chara becomes my song. 

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, we can see Paul working out this truth. He gives a list similar to the one above, “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” Can you relate? Especially as we have walked through this epic year, does joy seem transient or fleeting?

Early this week when Timothy was playing hide and seek at the neighbor’s house, he was (maybe not so creatively) hiding behind a large pine tree. His belief that it is easier to run for base when you can just dart from behind a tree superseded his desire to be completely covered or invisible in the game. He was watching the “it” move around, hoping not to be seen or tagged first. Yet when hundreds of ants swarmed up his ankle, covering him in retribution for making their home his hiding place, his gaze pivoted immediately. His head swiveled as the screaming began, his eyes locked on me across the yard, and he made a beeline through the game for my arms. Why? Because I held his only 4 year old hope of relief. He KNEW that I would offer help, comfort, aid. 

Walking in joy demands a change in our sight. Our eyes need to move off the swarming, painful attacks brought by fear, uncertainty or even the enemy. We must lock eyes with the only One who offers hope and peace. Jesus Christ as Lord must be the proclamation as we run straight for His arms. He has wiped every sin off and made us clean. He promises to tend our wounds, place His steadfast love as salve on our burning, guilt ridden parts, minister to our fearful hearts in the darkest hours of our night, and rejoice as healing comes.

We have Him as our treasure. He has offered to walk with you and me in the jars of clay we are, easily broken or chipped, not expensive or refined. 

The Gospel offers such depth of grace. In the moments when we are desperate for solace, He is there. The treasure of His victory over all our sin, the presence He offers in our deepest longings, the peace He gives in the middle of turmoil, these are the glorious offerings for you and me. 

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So today when we experience the swarming attacks, when we feel the stings of painful relationships or moments, when we recognize our poor choices may have led us to this moment, let’s fix our eyes back on Jesus. He alone perfects our faith. He is at work, and we have the treasure to show. Joy can come even in the middle of sorrow and uncertainty, because we are locked into the grace He extends.