GARMENT OF JOY

"Rejoice in the Lord always."  Philippians 4:4

      Why do some people experience joy to a large degree, while others only experience joy like the ebb and flow of the tide?  I have pondered this phenomenon to a great extent, but have come to no positive conclusion.

      Upon remembering the early days of becoming a Christian, there was an occasion when I was ecstatic with joy, and I exclaimed, "I feel like I am on 'cloud nine' and I'm never coming down!"  My friend promptly replied, "That is impossible.  You can't live on cloud nine."  Sure enough, my elation burst before long, and I plummeted back to earth.

      I recall a scene from a few years back, September twenty-eighth, my daughter Audrey's birthday.  She had died in 1980, but on her birthdays I always feel sad.  On this particular birthday, as I was grieving, the Lord spoke to me, saying, "Do not grieve for Audrey.   She is safe in My arms, dear child, as I have told you.  Rejoice that her name is written in the Book of Life.  Put on My joy like a garment.  Praise Me."

      I thought this an odd request.  And, as much as I wanted to obey the Lord, I found it difficult to 'put on joy like a garment.'  How was this possible?  Even though I have a vivid imagination, trying to picture myself wearing a 'garment of joy' was too ridiculous for words.

      Suddenly a vision of my dear friend, Granny Marshall, who went home to be with the Lord several years ago, appeared before my eyes.  She was admonishing me in her usual fashion.  "Rejoice!" she proclaimed.  "But, Granny," I protested.  "I don't feel like rejoicing."  Granny would just smile as if she had some inside information, a secret she knew I couldn't possible understand.

      I thought about it a lot, even inquiring if other people found it hard to rejoice in the midst of distressing circumstances.  I could never get past the place where I felt that if I pretended to rejoice, I would be a hypocrite, a phony.

      Then I'd think about Granny, and her tremendous faith in God.  Was that her secret?  She knew that she knew God would see her through any storm.  Granny's faith was unshakable.  Her foundation of faith in Jesus Christ was solid, as I witnessed time and time again.

      I believe God brought Granny and I together so I could see, first had, faith in action.  In my mind's eye, I can see her now, tending her flowers so lovingly, or canning fruit from her small orchard which the Lord blessed abundantly.

      She always had a smile on her face and a cheery word of greeting for everyone.  Granny had a constant inner peace; a serenity that was evident for all the world to see.

      Now, I wonder; did Granny put on a garment of joy' when she got up each morning?  Quite often you would hear her singing, and you just knew it came from a joy deep in her heart.

      Did she set her mind, as Paul exhorts in Philippians 4:8, "to think on such things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and including excellent and praiseworthy?"  how could you be anything but joyful if you thought on these things?

      Verse 4:9 concludes with "And the peace of God will be with you."   Does that account for that smile on Granny's face, which is etched in my memory?

      I pray, "Oh Lord, I want that inner peace I observed in Granny.  Build in me an unshakable faith in You.  Help me learn to put on a Garment of Joy."