The Journey for Joy

The content in life is far better than its duration. In fact, this just may be how life is measured.

At 24 years old, I in no way believe I have arrived at, fulfilled or accomplished everything in life; nor do I believe I have the answers to life’s most difficult questions. In fact, I am quite open that I believe life is not about finding the right answers but rather embracing a journey of uncertainty. It is a journey full of surprises. A journey that brings love, ecstasy, excitement, wonder, chaos, adrenalin, sadness, anguish, despair, hurt, brokenness and loss to the forefront of life. I also believe I get to choose for myself how to handle these real life situations. I hope when I face them, I will always prefer the choice that contains joy.

Joy is the essence of what we long for. It carries a genuine sense of peace and tranquility with it. The problem, however, is that joy is notoriously unpredictable. Why is it that the older, the more gnarled the cherry tree, the greater the profusion of blossoms? And sometimes the oldest and dustiest bottles hold the most sparkling wine? I ask these questions to say that sometimes I experience joy after a long wait. A battle through cancer. Life-altering surgery. Death in the family. Loss of a job. Sometimes, we must wait before we experience joy.

But, paradoxically, I find joy is in my backyard. Looking into the depths of my soul and finding a love relationship with Christ means the world to me. To know that, no matter what, God looks at me and calls me ‘Beloved’ is a feeling second to none. To find wholeness simultaneously in my self-image and in my vocation is joy.

William Sloan Coffin once said, “Our business in life is less making something of ourselves than finding something worth doing and losing ourselves in it.” Joy is not our political caste rating or our inheritance but rather the affection for the journey. It was once said, “If faith puts you on the road, hope is that which keeps you there.” Let me take it a step further and say that if this is true then joy is the journey itself. It is being fulfilled in where you are on the road of life by looking into the contours of your soul and down the road traveled and seeing God’s providence. Joy is inward and outward.

I don’t claim to know a lot, but I do believe to find love and peace within yourself and within your life’s setting is to experience joy. The gift God is trying to give.

The content in life is far better than the duration. In fact, this just may be how life is measured – choose the journey for joy. It’s unpredictable, but also eternal.

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