Joy is quite elusive, if you ask me. Joy can’t be captured, measured, tamed, quantified, stored up for later – joy isn’t something I can schedule into my day or put on my calendar. I can’t anticipate joy’s arrival or make an appointment to gain an audience with her. Joy comes and goes on her own schedule, without fanfare. Joy doesn’t announce herself, which explains why she catches me by surprise every time and takes my breath away. Joy always vanishes too soon, leaving me longing for more time together. Still I am grateful for the time joy and I do spend together.

Joy made an unexpected appearance one morning this past week and I am still the better for the time I spent in her presence. It was an ordinary morning in every way, except that it was the coldest morning of our winter so far. In fact, it was cold enough that my school system and many others were starting two hours later on this particular day. This meant that I was not driving to school in the dark as usual on this coldest of all mornings. Instead, I was still at home when joy paid her unannounced visit. And let me just say, joy shows up in the most unexpected, in the most mundane of places, amid the mundaneness of my everyday life.

Such was the case this ordinary morning. I was in my laundry room. That’s right – with my extra time I was putting in a load of laundry. Now laundry must be the most mundane of all tasks, I think. However, my laundry room has an east facing window and on this uneventful morning, I looked out my window over the frozen landscape to see a sky on fire, a sky ablaze with warm, glowing oranges, pinks, yellows, all blending together, creating a radiance unique to this sunrise of this new day alone.

The morning sky was so beautiful, it took my breath away. I stood captive, unable to look away, lest the beauty before me should disappear as soon as I turned my back. And so I continued watching – BUT – joy doesn’t tarry, she has places to go and people to see. The initial brilliance of the sunrise faded as the sun continued her climb into the sky. I however, had received my jolt of joy for the day (better by far than caffeine) before the day had even begun. How grateful I was to receive this extraordinary gift on this ordinary day. Unexpected and freely given – joy does things like that.

I didn’t have to go looking for joy. She came to me. I didn’t have to climb a mountain or travel to an exotic location to behold such thrilling beauty. No, joy comes freely to all who will receive her. All I had to do was to look out my laundry room window and God’s glory was on display right in front of me! Joy is definitely one of my Heavenly Father’s many good gifts and I never want to take joy’s visits for granted. Joy showed up on a sub-zero morning, brightening up a cold, dark world with a heavenly lightshow defying description. She didn’t stay long, but the memory of those moments spent in her presence kept me warm all day.

That’s joy for you. She is elusive. She can’t be captured or conjured up or summoned or manufactured. But she is all around me, readily available to me, just waiting for me to pause from my busyness long enough to notice her and engage with her. Joy comes with the kind word I didn’t expect and didn’t realize how desperately I needed it until it was given to me. Joy comes when I dare to obey God’s truth instead of being bound by my fear. Joy is more of a constant companion than I realize, because God’s presence is constant and God’s presence brings joy. God’s presence is joy. The psalmist experienced this saying –

“You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

Joy always feels like an undeserved bonus in my daily walk – the icing on the cake. Joy uplifts me, inspires me, encourages me when I am weary and considering giving up – it is then, in the despondent moments, that joy shows up and carries me forward. No wonder Nehemiah said this about joy –

“Nehemiah said, ‘ . . . Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ ” (Nehemiah 8:10)

Joy shows up to override my pain and to make me strong again in the Lord. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for sending joy into the moments of my days. Joy reveals You each time I encounter her. No wonder I long for more moments of joy. It is the expression of my longing for more glimpses of You!

sincerely, Grace Day