Undaunted Joyਨਮੂਨਾ

Real faith isn’t present only when it is utilitarian, when it is convenient. True faith is part of you, how you live and move and have your being.

True faith is when Job loses everything yet does not deny God. Job stood resolute in his faith even when his closest friends tried to sway him to curse God. . . . When you practice joy, joy is the default, even when the world falls apart.

After the terrorist group Hamas butchered over 1,200 Jews in Israel on October 7, 2023, my friend, an Israeli, wandered the streets in grief. He was snapped out of his trance by the shouts of a man marching down Gaza Ave., waving an Israeli flag. The man marched past Netanyahu’s private apartment, his tzitzit flying in the wind, shouting above the traffic, “Simhah lehiyot besimhah” (Joy, be joyful.) True joy still thrives when you are bent, pressed, and straightened. This man’s act was one of defiance, and it reminded my friend to do the same.

My Jewish friend tells me this is his faith at its best. “This is what we have been taught since the beginning of time.” During the Babylonian exile God told the Israelites to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:5-7 NIV).

With faith in God, we will not despair. Even in the darkest of places, we will create, build, plant, love, and hope.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for giving me a hope that endures even during the darkest times. Please help me share that hope with others. Amen.