Joy and Peace
It is usually at Christmas time that we see cards which prominently display these two words. Joy and peace were the words of the angels as they announced the coming of Christ. In order to focus more clearly on the person of Christ during this season, I always begin a study of His life at Christmas time and continue it throughout Easter. Deepening my knowledge of Him is not an optional exercise for my life. It is a necessity. We talk a lot about joy and peace during the Christmas season and we should do this. I have come to realize, however, that joy is not the absence of sorrow, nor is peace the absence of problems. Both joy and peace are the presence of Christ. I read recently in a sermon that “Our joy is proportional to our trust. Our trust is in proportion to our knowledge of God. To know Him is to trust Him.” The stability of our lives revolves around our depth of the knowledge of God. Joy and peace come from knowing that He is too loving to be unkind and too wise to ever make a mistake. They come from knowing Him as our shield and our exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1) They come from knowing that the depth, the height, the width and length of God’s love for us can never be measured. It is the certainty that we are in the center of His love that sustains our lives at Christmas time as well as throughout the rest of the year.
Christmas was different the year of 2021. Beverly awakened the morning of August 20 unable to think clearly. I could not get her to eat her breakfast or even get her out of the chair. EMS was called and she was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital. It was five days before I could see her due to Covid restrictions. She seemed pleased to see me but she did not know my name. Despite excellent care she was unable to stand up, to swallow food or to respond to questions. She continued to decline and was transferred to the hospice unit for the last few days of her life. After one month of hospital care, the Lord called her home to be with him. (September 17, 2021)
These thoughts were written with a heavy heart, because my oldest daughter (Nicolle) heard the Lord’s call to come to Him as well. Her cancer had progressed to a point where she was in Hospice care. She and her mother celebrated Christmas together in the presence of the Lord the year of 2021. She left behind her husband, to whom she had been married twenty two years, and their five children. I grieve deeply with the loss of both my wife and daughter. I know, however, that the Lord desires to help fill this void with Himself.
G. Campbell Morgan once wrote that joy is the consciousness of God’s love and that peace is the confidence of His love. I am thankful that through my knowledge of God, I can trust Him, and that in trusting Him I am able to be conscious of His love and confident of His love.
Satan once came before God and accused mankind of worshipping and serving God for the good that God did for them. It turned out that he was right about Bildad, Zophar, Eliphaz and Job’s wife, but not about Job. Job determined that he should worship and serve God for who He was, not simply for what He had done for Job. I have come to realize that there is not much in this life that I can offer to God. He has provided Salvation, His very own nature given to me in His Son, adoption into His family and an eternity to rejoice in Him. What I can offer to Him, however, is praise, worship, service and thanksgiving to Him for Who He is, not just for what He does for me.
It is at Christmas that we celebrate His coming to earth to visibly reveal the nature of God Himself. I John 3:2 assures us that when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Beverly and Nicolle have seen Him as He is and have been transformed into His likeness. They are rejoicing around the throne of God. This is the reason Jesus came into the world over two thousand years ago. He came to take away our sin and transform us by the gift of His life in order that we could be one with God in Christ. This was the joy set before Him as He endured the cross! (Hebrews 12:2)
To those of us who have been left by the ones we love there is sorrow. I miss Bev and Nicolle deeply. Although I cannot see Christ visibly as they see Him, He is still my joy and my peace. He has given Himself to me. He will never leave me or forsake me!
Some dear friends gave me a verse several years ago as I was facing chemotherapy and surgery for recurrent cancer. I start nearly every day by quoting it to myself. “The Lord Himself will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forget you. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) It is my prayer and desire for you that His presence and His promises will provide you an awareness of His joy and His peace as you follow Him.
In Christ,
Richard Spann