A Poem About Joy

Laughter in a sea of tears,
Hope amidst a world of fears.
Strength in sorrow, comfort through pain,
Joy, with you I can but gain.
You are daylight shining through the
Clouds I fear have hidden you.

Though oft distant, out of reach,

I will find you, if I seek.

Joy I give you all my heart,

My whole soul, to you impart.

For I trust you will remain

When clouds that hide you bring me rain.

Tools in God's House

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." - 2 Timothy 2:20

This verse makes me feel so selfish and short-sighted about my role in God's kingdom. I think most of my time is spent thinking about how I want God to bless my life, how He can make me happy, and what He can do for me. Even my worship of Him and the service that I do in His name, in many ways I think that if I do these things, He will make me happier or I will be more fulfilled in some way. Then I feel so silly when I read something like this. God doesn't exist to glorify us and our tiny little lives. We exist to glorify Him! I sit around and ask God to do things for me, and I become impatient with Him when things don't go my way. Who am I to ask God for things to go my way? Especially when my life is about everything but Him and He only exists for my selfish purposes. Because that's not the way things work, is it. No, I only exist for His purposes and to further His kingdom. So God's not saying, cleanse yourself of ignoble things, and then I'll make you happier and bless your life more. He's saying, cleanse yourself of ignoble things, and then I'll use you for the furthering of My kingdom, make yourself ready for Me, and I'll give you work to do for Me. Of course if my heart is in the right place, I will love being used for His purposes more than I would love any other blessings He could give me, but it will take some major reconfiguring of my heart to come to truly understand that concept. I just need that constant reminder from God that we're not in this for me. And that even though we're in it for God, the great part about it is that this is what I was made for, this is my purpose, to glorify God with everything I do, so naturally I will end up happier glorifying God than I'd ever be if I were doing anything else.