Look to (the Lord) that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. Psalm 34:6
Happiness is often mistaken for joy. A new dress, a glimpse at the Grand Canyon, a night at the movies may bring fleeting happiness but not necessarily genuine joy. Joy comes from the depths of a person, lights up their eyes and bubbles out through their whole being. If we would “look to the Lord,” we would exude joy, for what else can God radiate?
Whenever I think of joy, I think of Teresa whose eyes sparkled and whose whole face lit up whenever she spoke of God in her daily life. Whereas the sorrows she experienced in her life may have momentarily dimmed her happiness, they only deepened her joy as well as her trust in all that God was doing in and through her. By temperament, some persons are more effusive than others, but joy transcends temperament. Jesus was God’s joy incarnated. When you stop to think about it, is our mission any less lofty?
Prayer: Grant me the grace this day, Lord, to not only radiate your joy but to be that joy for those I encounter this day.
