“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him,
you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”  (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Have you ever lost something valuable?

Recently, I had a conversation with my sisters in Christ and discovered we all had something in common—we had lost precious diamonds.  One dear sister told us of the tragic story of how she sat in her car one day and took off her wedding rings to lotion her hands.  Afterwards, she grabbed her purse and proceeded to go inside the store, only to rush back half an hour later in desperate search for her rings.

She never found them.

I had a watch my husband bought me in 1987.  That beautiful watch had 32 diamonds in it.  One day the battery died and I slipped the watch inside my purse with the intent to take it to the jeweler across the street from my office.  About two weeks later, I discovered the watch had disappeared.

Had I lost it?  Or had it been stolen?

Most women love jewelry.  When you lose something so precious, you are sick to your stomach.  Sometimes we mourn over these precious minerals for years.

Don’t you feel like this sometimes when you’re robbed of your joy?

We rise in the morning with the intent to follow a schedule, not a rigid one, just one that gives us a sense of direction.  We’re open for change.  We don’t have preset agendas.  We don’t have specific people in mind we need to set straight.  Not looking for a fight.  Not looking to defend one either.

Our day is highlighted by a nice hard rain from the day before.  We smile because it’s sunny, the earth has been nurtured, the flowers are blooming, spring, or autumn is in the air.  Birds are singing.  Our family is at peace.

Then you get a phone call.  Maybe it’s a nasty look.  Perhaps someone misunderstood something you said.  Or were you cornered into taking the fall for something you didn’t do?  In a split second, your whole world comes crashing down.  Everything seems to spiral out of control.  Whether it’s pent up emotions, or the results of evil hands, you’re in a tizzy.

You convince yourself to take the high road.  If you don’t say anything, how will anyone know what you’re going through?  So you pick up the phone.  You get on Facebook.  You send out e-mails.  But no matter how many numbers you dial, who you e-mail, or how many social outlets you contact, no one heeds your pleas for help.

The last thing you want to do is sit and cry alone.  You’re miserable and you want company—someone to help you muddle through your mess.

I can remember times when a calamity knocked on my door.  I won’t lie.  I wanted to skip the crying and go right into fight mode.  I wanted to park my Christian faith in the middle of a parking lot, or hide it under a blanket.  I didn’t want to conceal it for long—just for a moment, until I landed the first blow across someone’s jaw.

It’s times like these that we’re so clouded with what’s going on around us that we can’t seem to remember scripture.  For example:

¹⁷pray without ceasing; ¹⁸in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit . . . (I Thessalonians 5:17-19) 

. . .always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Ephesians 5:20)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want to stand toe-to-toe with the evil one and have it out with him.  By myself, I’d surely lose that fight.

I miss my 32-diamond watch.  It’s worth a lot of money.  But here is what I’m determined “not” to lose.

My joy.

I have no plans to put it up for sale.  There’s no bid high enough to auction this precious gift God has given me.  I won’t loan it out either.  There’s not enough room on my bookshelves to hold it, so there’s no room for it among my fiction novels.  I won’t hide it under the cabinet or drown it out with secular music.  I don’t have plans to throw it in with the wash.  And I sure won’t wring it out with mop water and scrub the floors with it.

See, I can’t even mingle my joy with idle gossip, or ungodly movies, dirty jokes and foul language.

And I’m not about to plaster a For Sale sign on my front door.

What I have in my posession is worth more than silver and gold and sparkling diamonds.  My joy down plays the hand-me-down rags I wear around the house and causes me to sing.  It doesn’t frown at my bad breath if I choose not to brush my teeth until three o’clock in the evening.  It keeps me company when things become a bore.  It makes me smile at the little things.  It tickles me until I can’t stand it, making me cry and roar with laughter when God exposes the many miracles he wants me to see.  My need to complain gets lost between the birds’ singing and the sunshine beaming.  And instead of curling my hands to make a fist and fight my next opponent, I’m kneeling in prayer with a smile on my face.

I may not be able to stop solicitations for my joy, but I will definitely use my God-given right to refuse any price offered for it.

So, I declare, no matter what circumstances I find myself in . . .

My Joy Isn’t For Sale.

Scripture Reading: 

Philippians 1:3-5  I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Philemon 1:7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20  But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

2 John 1:12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

Donna B. Comeaux
Freelance Writer, Poet, Novelist
May 12, 2015