Franz Joseph Haydn said, “When I think of God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes leap and dance as they leave my pen.”

Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of visiting regularly with two separate, yet special people.  May I share a brief sketch of background so you can appreciate and receive the practical blessing of today’s message.

My friend Lionel Arruda, once a healthy man, had a surprise cerebral stroke one night about a year ago that left him paralyzed on his left side.  After placements in various rehab facilities, and subject to numerous medications and therapies, he’s finally back home.  He’s surrounded  by his faithful and loving wife and a supportive family to help him continue the fight to improve the quality of his life.

My next door neighbor and long term friend, Pastor Mary Walsh, has been in a continuous health challenge for many years with significant issues dealing with her heart, lungs, and body parts attacked by cancer.  Even as an elderly lady, and currently recovering in a local rehabilitation center, her inner desire to come home and be neighborly once again is contagious and certain to happen.

Invariably, whenever I leave from visiting either of these two, I am encouraged by their relentlessness and because I sense a type of joy not found in the dictionary.  Webster defines joy as an emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.  On the surface and because of their individual circumstances, neither of these currently wheel-chair bound heroes of mine even come close to qualifying by this assessment of joy.

In contrast, their behavior brings Habakkuk 3:17-19 to life. “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, though the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls.  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the victorious God of my salvation. The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army.”

Family and friends, the joy of the Lord is your and my strength too.  The Lord never changes and neither do His supernatural attributes that become part of our DNA when we accept Him into our heart as our redeemer and Heavenly Father. My friends Lionel Arruda and Pastor Mary Walsh are great models of His source of joy, even under their most challenging circumstances.

This joy in them may not ever make emotional or intellectual sense to us, but it makes Spiritual sense forever.  Let’s thank God for His miraculous strength in them and for the potential in us to be joyful – no matter what!

Habakkuk 3:17-19; Nehemiah 8:10; Hebrews 12:2; 3 John 2