Spread Joy

"I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:18 As the new school year starts I am reminded of the simplest joys in life. Newly sharpened pencils and waxed school floors - okay maybe those are too simple, but classrooms of jubilant children - now there is some real joy. I often see children overjoyed about starting school. Excitement is oozing from their pores. The fun and joy of doing something new, a new challenge, a new season is almost too much for them to contain. How is it that our children realize that they can have the joy of the LORD overflow from them in new situations they are put in, yet we as adults all too often loose that joy? As adults we look at the new or the challenge as something to be afraid of and we quiver in weakness and fear. The Word tells us that the LORD is our strength and we can be joyful in Him. The LORD is in us and His joy can flow through us by His Spirit, so when we see the new let us not be afraid. Instead, let us have strength and go out with joy. The love of Jesus can be spread as we are joyful and full of anticipation in what the LORD is going to do with the new or the challenge in our lives. This fall may we spread the joy of the LORD in all situations, new and old, the challenging and the typical, with the same excitement that the younger members of the Body started off this new season in their lives. — Rebecca Carmichael, Children’s Ministries