Leap for Joy
Can you imagine what it would be like to leap for joy at God’s blessings, to truly believe that what God has spoken to us is true and that God’s word will be fulfilled?
Luke 1: 44-45
For as soon as I heard the sound of your [Mary’s] greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by God.
Have you ever been convicted by scripture?
I can’t remember the last time I “leaped for joy.” Joy feels distant in the depths of winter, in the weeks preceding the next administration, after the years of Covid, in the grief for loved ones who have died, all interwoven with the struggles of my own pregnancies and childbirths over the past three years. There is still joy interwoven into seasons of struggleWa, and even laughter and dancing to “Baby Shark” with my three-year-old, but leaping for joy? Not so much. Too tired for that.
And then there is the blessing. Blessed is she who believed that God’s word was true. After starting a new church just before a pandemic, I know that God’s word is true, and also, I have to admit that I spend too much time uncertain about what the future holds. Again, there are moments where I fully believe that God’s Spirit is leading me and Juniper Formation UCC. And also, there are moments of doubt about my and our future.
Those moments of belief in God’s word fulfilled are what bring me the most joy in life and the most magic—when everything comes together in Spirit exceeding the limits of my imagination. I so wish I could live embodied in that belief all of the time.
Can you imagine what it would be like to leap for joy at God’s blessings, to truly believe that what God has spoken to us is true and that God’s word will be fulfilled? Consider living this way for the week. Practice living with love, joy, peace, and hope, fully embodied, and see what magic happens.