SCENE 1
Imagine a lake — woods growing close to the shore, not a cloud on the horizon. The scene is filled with shades of blues and greens in water, earth, and sky. Beneath the placid surface of the lake gentle currents flow slightly above the sandy bottom, their source a natural spring feeding life into the lake. Bubbles float upward through shafts of light on this warm sunny day.
God has made my soul like this lake. He is the source, the natural spring of my life. Bubbles of joy move through my days rising from deep peace in my spirit to the surface of life on earth. I’m happy. When life is good, everywhere I look is calm, in control. Life is beautiful.
You may scoff. What about when life isn’t good? When your day is filled with a cranky boss, three sick kids, and a non-housebroken puppy? When cancer strikes? When the person you love most in the whole world dies in a car accident?
Okay. First, let me be specific in definitions.
Peace: a sense of stillness with an attitude of contentment.
Joy: contentment in action.
SCENE 2
Imagine a lake — woods growing close to the shore, rolling hills in the background. The scene is filled with shades of grays and blacks and browns in water, earth, and sky. Beneath the choppy waves on the lake, gentle currents flow slightly above the sandy bottom, their source a natural spring feeding life into the lake. Bubbles float upward toward the roiling surface from a winter storm.
What changed? Only the surface. Only circumstances on this earth. When life is awful or merely annoying like a drab, twenty-hour nonstop downpour, everywhere I look is frightening and gloomy. I’m not happy. Yet, God is still the source of life, the natural spring, and bubbles of joy continue to move through my days rising from deep peace in my spirit. Life is beautiful.
