Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to our Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. Today we are going to return to the series I started a while back, The Seven Sacrifices to Joy. Grab your coffee and your Red Strand of Faith and let’s go tie some knots as we learn more about the sacrifices of righteousness, one of the seven which ultimately leads to joy.
Oh, speaking of joy, I had an experience that was all about this one tiny but gigantic word so let me share that with you.
I was sitting in class listening to the professor talk about the spiritual discipline of silence! Immediately the ears of my heart pricked into high gear and he began to talk about the power of prayer, only not the way we think of prayer where we talk to God, maybe give Him a list of things to do, wait to hear His voice and when we don’t we get up and give up. Have you ever experienced such moments? I know I’ve been truly convicted lately about spending more time in contemplative prayer, especially since my honey’s home and often up shortly after I get up, which leaves me little time, or so I’ve bought into that lie for a while. Oops, let’s return to the classroom.
Anyway, he gave us an assignment right then and there: Think of one word to focus on and sit with Jesus. The professor even went as far as to say, “Sit in His lap,” or “Imagine Him sitting next to you.” Focus on this one word and sit in silence for five minutes.
Sounds simple, huh? IT’S NOT! Especially if your mind has been running ahead of your body all day, every day for too many days! But as the seconds turned into the first minute, I began to relax and the word I heard was joy! I began to just say with my heart, “Father, be my joy, stir up my joy, grant me joy. You are the source of my joy.” The first minute turned into the next and then the next and as I sat there silently – and no, I didn’t sit in His lap :) – my mind emptied and I began to experience His presence … it was then that I heard: “You are a joy to me.”
The tears began to slowly trickle down my face. I was flabbergasted! How could that be? Lately I had been feeling like a whiny baby who was constantly saying “Father, Father, Fatherrrrrrrr, are you sure? Father, do I have to? Father, can I quit?”
That simple sacrifice to be still for five minutes was one that I know I need to slow down enough to practice not just daily, but at least twice a day! Oh, the joy of being still and knowing that He is God! (Psalm 46:10)
What about you; can you slow down enough to practice this spiritual discipline of sitting still and hanging out with Jesus for just five minutes? I believe that you can; the better question is will you? And if not, why not? This can also be accounted as a sacrifice of righteousness. How can we get fueled up and filled up if the engine is always running?
Oh, Coffee Hour friend, take time to make time to be still with Him. Join me tomorrow for a quick recap of the sacrifices thus far and the conclusion to the sacrifice of righteousness.
Love,

 Evinda