Even if you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend this movie. I also recommend it if you have read the book and always avoid movies made from books you’ve read out of fear it won’t live up to your expectations. 

This story reaches down to the depths of one’s spirit to stir up joy even in the darkest places, the joy that can only come from being sure of God’s love and goodness. 

High highs and low lows are all part of living the abundant life Jesus came to give us. Being fully alive is not always filled with roller coasters and rainbows and some days can bring us the best of the best as well as the worst of the worst. It’s in the bittersweet moments and days of ups and downs that joy might seem elusive but I feel that the awareness of being fully alive brings a joy of its own that nothing can ultimately squelch. 

Romans 8:16 – God’s Spirit joins with my spirit to affirm that I am His child. 

Though I don’t always have this truth in the forefront of my thoughts, God faithfully reminds me of it whenever I am confused and questioning. When I ask Him to dispel the lies and show me the Truth, He brings me to rest in reminding me I belong to Him and that is all that matters in the end. This is joy to me. 

If you read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, have you ever thought about how many times Jesus calls people to come and join Him? I was especially struck with this tonight as my small group practiced a meditative prayer time with the passage in Matthew 14, when Jesus walks in water and invites Peter to come walk with Him. 

Jesus was already there in the water, doing it, walking on water!  All He did was invite Peter to do what Jesus was already doing. 

I got the sense tonight that God still invites us to join in with what He’s already doing in our lives. Specifically for me, the Spirit affirmed that I should walk forward into a potential open door for my job search, helping me to see God working already in the midst of my searching and enabling me to firmly grasp that I can trust what He is doing. This brings me great joy 😊. 

Is there some area of your life where the Spirit is inviting you to come and join in where God is already doing His work ?

I suppose, the season of Lent may seem like a dark time to many. The practice of sacrificing something during this season can be difficult , though technically we’re supposed to add something more of God into our lives in place of what we are giving up. It also might seem dark to people because it’s focused on Jesus’ sacrifice and death. 

Yet, the actual light, as in daylight, begins to increase as we move further into spring. This says something to my spirit. Jesus’ death didn’t happen during the darkest time of the year. It happened when new life was literally bursting forth from all of nature and when the brightness of the sun was growing (which, by the way, brings forth the brightest light of the year around the time of Pentecost,the giving of the Spirit). 

So, on this day, as we prepare for our annual focus on remembering Christ’s giving of His life for ours, perhaps our greatest focus should be on Him as The Light of the world and in the glory of God that Ge brought to us all. Maybe then our joy will be made more complete during this season as God’s glory is proclaimed by the birds singing all around us and the flowers beginning to break through from there sleep in the darkness.