My Grandfather’s dairy farm was on a gently sloping hill rising from the Susquehanna River in New York State. As a child I loved to visit the farm and my grandparents. From their back porch where we sometimes ate breakfast or dinner, there was a sweeping view all the way to the river.

Many years after Grandpa died and Grandma had sold the farm, I visited the village and drove past the farm. All the land between the house and the river had been sold separately, and it was now filled with mobile homes and campers. Gone entirely was the view to the river, and there was heavy litter where there had once been a pasture. I was actually depressed when I saw what had happened to the farm. I called my siblings and we commiserated on the phone, but it didn’t help. I felt as if I had experienced a great loss, though in fact I had never owned the farm or lived there for any great length of time.

“This day is holy to the Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) In Nehemiah’s time, some of the people of Israel had returned from exile to rebuild the destroyed temple of Solomon. When Ezra and Nehemiah read to them the long forgotten scriptures, they began to weep at the realization of what they had lost. It was then that Nehemiah spoke these famous words to the people. God gave His people the simple direction in which to look for joy. He made it clear that joy itself belonged to Him, and that He gave it generously delights to share it. It is hard, though, to let go of our griefs, and so we sometimes miss the joy that waits for us to ask for it.

to those who would seek it in Him instead of in the world. Joy is part of God’s character, and He

Joy is part of the contract that God makes with His people. It is healing, renewing joy that only He provides. God desires us to ask for joy, because He knows that such a request means that we have come to know Him. When I remembered the farm, I knew that it had left a bright goodness in me that would outlive the farm itself, and continue to deliver joy. Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:24). Joy is a contract with God. He never fails to deliver.

Love in Him,

Prue