Today joy is so often thought to be the very
opposite of faith, but joy is something much deeper and much more lasting. Look at Isaiah
9:1-4: Nevertheless,
there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he
humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will
honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—2 The
people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in
the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You
have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the
harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For
as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that
burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their
oppressor.
Isaiah gives us three significant things about God
in which we can rejoice.
1. Rejoice That God Lives
2. Rejoice That God Cares
3. Rejoice That God's Plan Is Invincible
To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit must mean that
we will be more sensitive to people and their pain; to be more sensitive to
people ought to make us more open to God and his purposes.
Be wise today and always –
know the Lord’s joy.
