Charity Autry, Member since 2008, Families in Faith Sunday School Leader, Starting Point Leader, VBS Chair (Children’s Ministry Council)
Philippians 4:11-13, 19 (New International Version)
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.  

 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 

Reflection:
I thought I had it hard early in my life. I know what it is to be in need. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he is writing from a prison cell in a place of serious need. And what does he tell the people of Philippi? He tells them to find joy in all things. In his letter, he says he had nothing, and he has had everything. I wish I had known Paul’s words in my early days. Although I continually have to remind myself even today.

Paul told the Philippians he was full of joy even when he was shackled in chains. He had not only lost his freedom but also friends and all his worldly things. What Paul had realized—that I did not in my younger life—was the source of his inner joy: the Holy Spirit. Joy does not come from “things,” but from inward strength through the Holy Spirit. Having lots of things and only good experiences will never give us complete joy. We will always be yearning for more. 

 

So, how do we find joy in all circumstances? I often look to those people who, rather than trying to fill their lives with fleeting moments of happiness, give all of themselves to others every day. I ponder how they continue to dedicate their lives to others after witnessing the death, destruction, and loss continuously. Gregory Boyle runs Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention program in Los Angeles. In his book, Tattoos on the Heart, he chronicles his work, and it made me wonder how he continues to do this work when young lives are lost every day to gang violence. But this man embodies joy. It is the only way he keeps doing the work he is doing. He quotes Thomas Merton, saying:

 

“No despair of ours can alter the reality of things or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there…We are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the general dance.” 

 

The cosmic dance is our lives. So many of us have suffered the loss of family, jobs, or even possessions, making it really hard to find joy. But when I look back at my life during these times, I can find joy—the joy of friends and family supporting us during a tough time, the joy of remembering those that we have lost and the impacts they had on our lives, the joy of the dance. 

 

I think Paul was saying he has seen the good and the bad, but he still found joy in the process through the Holy Spirit. He might have even penned the original lyrics for The Dance, made famous by Garth Brooks: 

 

“And now I’m glad I didn’t know

The way it all would end the way it all would go

Our lives are better left to chance

I could have missed the pain

But I’d have had to miss the dance” 

 

Friends, we will have it all and nothing at all. God calls us to find joy in the cosmic dance of life. Find strength in Christ.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, when I mourn the loss of people or things in my life, please remind me to find joy. Find joy in the life my friends and family have lived. Find joy in things that you have provided. Lord, help me to find joy even in despair. I can do all things in God who gives me strength. Amen.