Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope. (Romans 15:13)
Have you ever experienced a moment of uncontrollable laughter? Despite all attempts to get it together and regain control, or a semblance of order, wave after wave of laughter continued to grip you, leaving you powerless to contain it. If you’re like me, perhaps, even a snort or two came bursting out without your permission.
Looking back at some of those times, as I experienced them, whatever happened wasn’t quite that funny. The amount of laughter felt disproportionate to the situation at hand. But, yet, for some unexplainable reason, I couldn’t help myself from engaging my whole body in deep belly laughter that left me with sore abs and tears rolling down my cheeks.
Laughter is a gift from God that reminds us that His joy is ready to burst through in any and every circumstance. In fact, God tells us that even our most difficult seasons and hardships can be occasions for great joy (James 1:2).
What if beyond all sense, logic, and reason, God is waiting to burst through your situation, your darkness, your depression, your fears, your insecurities, your ‘you name it,’ with uncontainable joy? What if His desire is to rip through you with waves of joy and laughter that strip away your control until all you could do is rejoice in His presence? I believe this is true for us.
Where the spirit of the Lord is, joy is. As we dwell in His presence, we meet with the source and creator of joy. God desires us to overflow with joy and perfect peace, so that we might radiate hope (Rom. 15:13). When we tap into joy that doesn’t depend on our circumstances, our lives become megaphones of hope in a world that desperately needs it.
In 1 Peter 1:8-9, it is written “you love Him passionately, although you did not see Him, but through believing Him, you are saturated with an ecstatic joy.” This tells me that even if we don’t feel we can see God working in our circumstances, we can choose to trust and believe in Him. When we choose belief and faith, the result is joy we cannot explain. And as we know, His joy is our strength (Nem.8:10) and medicine for the soul (Prov. 17:22).
Father,
Today I ask that your inexplainable, indescribable joy would shine like the sun, bursting through any darkness in our lives. I pray that any heavy weight we carry would be lifted in the light of your presence. I pray that chains would be broken with laughter, and we would radiate with hope. We choose joy, trust, and faith in you today. Your sons and daughters.
