The Healing Power of Joy

"You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy."

John 16:20

Say not within yourself, "Where is God?" for I am within you, yes, even in your heart, and My hand is upon you.  You have looked in vain for me because you have sought to see me in circumstances and in people, and have said, "I cannot find Him".  

Oh My child, look to Me directly, and rest your heart in me.  Do so with as little distraction as would be easy to do if you were the only human being in the world and therefore would have no one else to look upon and no one else with whom to converse.

Praise Me.  This I ask of you in times when it seems indescribably difficult to do so.  I ask it of you in love that is stern at this point because I know unequivocally that praise is your only hope for survival.

Distress of soul and grief of heart can only bring on destruction of body.  Joy alone is a healer, and you can have it on the darkest hour if you will force your soul to rise to Me in worship and adoration.  I have not failed you and you have not failed me.  It is only that you have failed yourself -or the disappointment has come on the human plane, not on the divine.  Why should you allow any human experience to alter or affect your divine relationship with your father?

Bring Me your sorrow, and wrath for the sunrise of the resurrection.  Yes, truly there comes always a resurrection-- a morning when hope is reborn and life finds new beginning.  Wait for it as tulip bulbs anticipate the spring.  The rarest blooms are enhanced by the coldness of winter.  The snow plays her part in producing spring's pageant.  But when the blossoms break through, we do not then turn back to thoughts of winter, but instead, we look ahead to the full joys of the coming summer.

So you must do also.  Your God is your maker.  He is your defender.  And He is mighty to save, Yes, He is not only mighty to save from sin, but He is mighty to save from despair, from sorrow, from disappointment, from regret, from remorse, from self-castigation, and from the hot, blinding tears of rebellion against fateful circumstances.  He can save you from yourself, and He loves you when you find it hard to love yourself.

Let His peace flow in you like a river, carrying always all the poison of painful memories, and bringing to you a fresh, clear stream of pure life and restoring thoughts.

This is not the end.  Press on.  The goal line is out of ahead, and you may yet be a winner in the race of life.