Joy

Misery loves company - Joy loves it more. - The Holy Spirit

     These are the words spoken to me first thing this morning.  My daughter and I talked yesterday about this very thing.  She is a server and we were discussing how rude and unfriendly people can be.  I know that when I was full of rage, I wanted people to feel it.  I wanted somebody to hurt as bad as I did.  There is nothing like having someone cry with you.  This morning I realized, we don't always want people to share in our feelings, sometimes we need them to carry some of it.  When the pain is so heavy on our chest we can barely expand our lungs to take in oxygen, we need somebody to take some of it off of us.
     This is what I found in telling my secrets.  For many months it was only Dave I shared with and he definitely took some of it off me, but he didn't carry it, he threw it away.  This morning the teenagers who heard my message are so heavy on my heart.  I had a young man, I would guess to be about 15 stand in front of me after the last service.  We stood there in silence, eyes locked.  He was a big kid, much taller than I.  I couldn't take my eyes off his.  Then in a very soft voice he whispered, "Thank you." and he turned and walked away.  I don't know exactly what God was doing in him, but the draw I felt was so strong.  Then a woman walked by and thanked me for the way I had handled the details.  She had three teenagers with her.  This really shook me.  I love kids.  I really love kids, but I have a hard time being around them because all I see is the vulnerability.  
     Last night I decided I hadn't realized how deep the pain can run.  I'm still feeling so much of it.  But then this morning as I sat and talked with the Holy Spirit, He explained to me that it is no longer my pain I am carrying.  It's every person who is feeling brave enough to speak up and speak out.  It's every story I have heard of men and women stepping forward and saying, "I'm tired of hurting."  I'm glad to carry it for a moment before we throw it on the enemy where it belongs.  He needs to be suffocated in it.  My willingness to carry another's pain not only comes from being able to hurt the enemy, it comes from knowing what happens next.  Once that pain is felt and thrown off, the joy that comes is 10 times the intensity and growing.
     As much as I wanted somebody to hurt as bad as I did, I want people to feel the freedom and joy growing inside me more every day.  

“A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.”
― Billy Graham


“The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.”
― Billy Graham


“God never takes away something from your life without replacing it with something better.”
― Billy Graham