Joy in ChaosSample

You ever see a kid look over his shoulder before choosing that fork in the road that his parent specifically told him not to take? The wide-eyed look of the wonder of reaching for that cookie, or whatever’s been forbidden, thinking they wouldn’t get caught.

But then the look of triumph quickly turns to pain as they realize a fact: their parents were right.

Sometimes rules feel constrictive. We might think we can’t be fully happy unless we cross the line and get a little breather. And it can be over something so innocuous. A family vacation you justify going on even though you had to max out a credit card. A new pair of shoes even though it would make the budget a little tight.

We tell ourselves our actions are harmless. That we aren’t really disobeying. But when that appliance unexpectedly breaks or a bill comes that we forget about, suddenly our vacations and new purchases show themselves as the problem they really are—disobedience.

Jesus tells us in John 15:10, “If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.” And the reason that Jesus tells us this? “I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Rules aren’t meant to harm us or constrict us from living a full life. They’re meant to ensure our joy. And not a regular old type of joy either. Not one you feel when you find money in your wallet or realize that it’s Saturday and not a day of work. Now, it’s the Lord’s joy that fills us and never leaves us.

And all we have to do is keep His commands. To love Him, to love others. Two rules that will ensure we have joy, others have joy, and the Father has joy in us.

~ Toni Shiloh