I got to wondering today, are any of you struggling to access joy this week like I am? Honestly, I feel guilty if I’m happy about something because there’s just so much hard everywhere right now. The urge to look at the news is constant and draining at the same time. I can’t imagine the horrors on the other side of the world while I sit in my warm house safe and secure. And, I hear a whisper:
Come to me.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
I was listening to a podcast yesterday where the speaker was talking about the ebb and the flow in all things of life. She gave the example of the tides and the moons and the seasons and even breathing. She talked about how we were created for that ebb and flow for work and rest but that when there’s so much suffering and so much pain, that we tend to let our healthy need for creative rhythms and rest be the first thing to go.
My co-worker sent me this quote recently:
“When we neglect right-brain development in our discipleship, we ignore the side of the brain that specializes in character formation. Left-brained discipleship emphasizes beliefs, doctrine, willpower, and strategies but neglects right-brain loving attachments, joy, emotional development, and identity. Ignoring right-brain relational development creates Christians who believe in God’s love but have difficulty experiencing it in daily life, especially during distress.”
Jim Wilder, The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation
What if what we really need right now is to frontload on joy and beauty and rest most of all so that we can give ourselves to our calling out of the overflow of Jesus offering us Himself?
Come to me.
What if in these times of deep pain when we feel the most helpless, we listen to Jesus saying, “This is my body broken for you. This is my blood shed for you?”
Come to me.
Practices of joy and gratitude ground us in our identity as the beloved children of our triune God and remind us why we do what we do in the first place. As we walk with Jesus and work with Jesus, He teaches us how to live freely and lightly with joy even in the midst of great suffering.
What are the right-brain practices that are saving your life these days? How are you taking time to stop and receive so you can keep giving? How are you accessing joy and beauty and rest?
I think today I’m going to pull out my big camera and spend some time paying attention to the beauty around me. What about you?
Come to me.
