Do you remember the story about Abraham and Sarah? God told Abraham that he would have a son and instead of waiting for God, they made arrangements for Sarah's handmaid, Hagar, to have Abraham's son. After Isaac was born, the result... of course... was jealosy. And Sarah demanded that Hagar and her son leave. Stranded in the wilderness, Hagar had given up and was ready for her and her son to die of thirst when God showed her the well that was right there near them.
Now, Ann VosKamp says it so well:
"In the wilderness, I keep circling back to this: I'm blind to joy's well every time I really don't want it. The well is always there. And I choose not to see it. Don't I really want joy? Don't I really want the fullest life? For all my yearning for joy, longing for joy, begging for joy - is the bald truth that I prefer the empty dark? Prefer drama? Whey do I lunge for control instead of joy?"The well is there even in our deepest wilderness. Is the only way to find that well of joy to give up on life and give up on joy so that God will show it to us? I don't think so. I think that if we expect joy, we will find it even in the most unlikely places.... in the cancer wings... in the funeral homes... in the tornado-devasted communities and typhoon-destroyed island nations.
God has placed the wells where we can find them on our own, but if we are not looking for them, we won't see them. If we think we have the answer, we won't even look for them. If we give up, maybe God will reveal them. But sometimes our heartache is so big that it closes our eyes even to what God tries to show us.
We need to find those wells before our wilderness times come. That way we will know exactly how to find them in the dark. Practice joy. Practice thankfullnes. Practice, practice, practice!
Father,
Help us to choose to see the well of joy that is right here, right now. Amen.
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