Happy Hearts

Happy Hearts ........

²¹ Do not fear, O soil;
   be glad and rejoice,
   for the Lord has done great things!
²² Do not fear, you animals of the field,
   for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit,
   the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

²³ O children of Zion, be glad
   and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
   he has poured down for you abundant rain,
   the early and the later rain, as before.   Joel 2:21-23 NRSV


There are a lot of of hard commands in the Bible. This is not be one of them. Well, it shouldn't be one of them. The instruction to be glad and rejoice should be the most enjoyable command of all. If we ever need permission to be happy people, this is it. God's own Word tells us to.

Why, then, don't we rejoice? Perhaps we do not know why we, forgetting that God would not tell us to be glad unless we had a really good reason to do so. Or maybe we obsess about what we do not yet have, focusing on the half-empty part of our glass - or the 99% full, as it most likely is. Or perhaps we worry  
about the future, not realizing that negativity is nowhere mentioned as a characteristic of Godliness.

Regardless of the reason, the command to rejoice - reiterated many times over in the Bible - seems unrealistic. But it is only unrealistic to those who ignore who God is, and what He has promised. When we refuse to rejoice, to acknowledge His Deliverance, His provision, His favor, His power, His presence, and everything else He tells us is ours by faith. In a sense, it is slander. We impugn His character by focusing our attention on the negatives of the world rather than on the positives of His Kingdom. We tend to forget that the negatives are temporary and the positives are eternal. When it comes to our moods, we have grossly misplaced our priorities.

Psalm 103:2 tells us not to forget any of God's benefits (a gentle rebuke, by the way, to those who do not think we should focus any attention on what God does for us.)  Remembering His benefits not only encourages us. The fact that the Bible is very persistent in its instruction for us "to be glad".
No where in Scripture is negatively rewarded. Only those who look to God in hope and faith are honored.

Spend some time today listing God's benefits. Let yourself be glad.