Long, frigid nights dissolve into gray days. Seemingly lifeless, ebony trees etch a silhouette against the ashen sky while icy air hopelessly struggles to move that which won’t budge. Sparse and brown, the frozen grass crunches to the breaking point as the heavy boots descend time and again. The outlook is bleak. January comes and is here to stay.
My contribution to my descriptive essay assignment to my students lets them know I can still do homework too. (They will get to evaluate it and find my mistakes.) A description of this season and my surroundings, but definitely not where my heart camps out.
My joy is not predicated upon nor negated by my circumstances or surroundings. My joy comes from That which is within.
1 Chronicles 16.27b says it well: Strength and joy are in His dwelling place.
And where is His dwelling place? In me! So there is where my joy originates. My circumstances may at times seem bleak and hope may seemingly be lifeless, but like a pocketful of water, my joy will not be contained.
January may come and January may stay, but the joy of the Lord is everlasting.
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