It was an odd moment…
Five o’clock traffic… slow moving… taking two rotations of red to make it through lights at intersections…
Who finds joy in that…?
Huh… I did…
That unexpected… unreasonable joy… bubbling up in the midst of what most would be cursing about…
God’s presence felt so near…
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
1Chronicles 16:27 NIV
And I wondered… Why…? Why in this place…? does He feel so near…?
My thoughts went to all the people in those cars… so close together… bumper to bumper…
In a smaller area than usual for me… was a concentration of people He created for His glory… and whom He loves enough to die for…
God’s love for ALL… filled me with joy in that moment…
A reminder… the joy of the Lord… is my strength…
“…Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10 NIV
God’s joy… gives strength to deal with people in difficult situations…
Not patience… perseverance… humility… but God’s joy-full love… blesses us with strength to love the lost… the sick… the blind… the impatient… the suffering… the complaining… the self-centered…
What a glory… what a joy… what a revelation… in the middle of five o’clock traffic…
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. …”
John 3:16-17 ESV
[Feature Image Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash]
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