Blessed Moment

I'm not a hunter, but I seem to do a lot of hunting.  With great forethought and intentions, I gather items together and put them  collectively in a safe place -- so safe I can't even find them when I need them.  Maybe there is a hunter instinct in me after all.  Oh, no!

 

God doesn't hide away His Joy.  He desires us to have it.  So why is it so difficult to find at times?  I'm certain I've asked myself this question many times this Season.  Years ago, unable to bake & take, shop & wrap, decorate & design, had made the Season different and difficult.  With depression threatening, I found myself "hunting" for the Season's joy.  Finally, soaking in a tub of hot water one night, I found myself unconsciously singing "Joy to the World" ... now, where did that come from?  "For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart." (Ecclesiastes 5:20)  For that brief moment, the Joy of Christmas broke through rotten circumstances and temporal feelings and manifest itself in song ... God's Heart of Joy answered my own searching heart.  A blessed moment!  Surely it must have been the same moment for Mary when she first held her Holy Child, after the pain of a long hard journey and the anguish of physical birth.  Despite and beyond all unpleasantries, God answered Mary's heart and the hearts of men with The Joy of all joys -- His blessed eternal Peace and Joy.  Oh, what a blessed moment!