Joy Set - by Alyssa Fine
Calves burning from the arduous journey, your body screams for respite, but you are forced to continue up the steep path. Stopping would mean dying at the hands of the elements.
Trudging onward and upward, you lift your head and see the dark clouds of the tempest rolling vehemently overhead. The savage wind threatens to throw you forcefully over the edge of the sheer cliff dangerously close to your route. Although concealed by the thick rain and fog, the raging sea below awaits, desperate to devour you if you were to fall.
Perhaps that would be easier. Despairing for warmth to cease the shivering of body and light to calm the trembling of soul, you dig in and thrust yourself forward. Somewhere ahead there must be a place to rest in safety, a moment of delight and elation, for joy to penetrate the storm in your spirit.
The journey of life becomes a merciless toil when the road is traveled alone, devoid of streetlights or conversation of companions. Trekking along and striving for the next glimmer of light, each step becomes heavier and the soul gives up strength. This is the tragedy that is the life of so many. A walk of such desolation should never be the the way of a child of the Light of Life.
Pushing forward, you maintain your vigorous pace despite the bombardment of life's adversity. Your imagination cruelly races, hoping that over the apex is a campfire complete with shelter, companionship, and fire to warm your cold extremities. How long will that brief moment of fire light sustain you? It seems that your very existence may crumble when your company will have to break camp and your odyssey must continue. If only the light, the fire, the joy could somehow become integrated into your soul's elemental parts.
Joy is sometimes mistaken as a whimsical feeling of happiness that is fleeting and only arises circumstantially, perhaps when a monumental moment of receiving happens. Shortly after, like a shooting star in the darkness that is often the abyss of human emotion, the feeling falls.
What if joy is not just a response to a marvelous juncture on the course of life, but rather an oil lamp set in the depth of your soul that cannot be snuffed out by the trials encountered?
The Holy Spirit enraptures you with joy- that feeling of safety, belonging, and hope for the hike ahead. "You have made known to me the ways of life; You will fill me [infusing my soul] with joy from Your presence" (Acts 2:28, AMP). If you have received Christ, the joy never abates. With the fire burning in your belly to light the way before you, there is no stoney mountain of life that cannot be conquered.
"The Lord is God, and He has given us light [illuminating us with His grace and freedom and joy]" (Psalm 118:27). Now joy is prevalent in the journey. The blazing light within reveals the absolute beauty that is abundant along your path. There are breathtaking surroundings of rugged cliff side, cerulean ocean, and brilliant sky.
Provision of produce grows among the smooth stones, and you wonder why you never noticed them before. "Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name" (Jeremiah 15:16). The kind words of your Savior fill your heart and lead you like a banner.
The road of desolation has now become a quest for adventure! The trudging has transformed into a expedition of enjoyment with the Companion of companions, the Friend of friends, the Guide of guides. "For he will not often consider the [troubled] days of his life, because God keeps him occupied and focused on the joy of his heart [and the tranquility of God indwells him]" (Ecclesiastes 5:22).
With your face set like flint and joy set in your heart, there is nothing that cannot be overcome. We have a champion to lead us onward! Christ soujourned a formidable mountain Himself when He walked in our shoes, and He knows the grace needed to complete it. "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:1b-2a, ESV).
With joy, this epic walk is now a welcomed one. The earth itself is yearning for the sons of God to be revealed, and by walking in His presence we are fulfilling our destiny. "For you will go out with joy and be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12, AMP). Peace be the journey!