"To Have and Have Not" - Too

 "For God giveth to man that is good in his sight wisdom, knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit." (Ecclesiastes 2:26 KJV)

  "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous on one another." (Galatians 5:24-26 NLT)

 I truly believe that God has something else for me to do, other than killing Termites! But it is really hard to walk away from something you have been doing for over 40 years, without having a plan; yet I feel as though God will not show me His plan until I make the move. Is that even wise? It is like letting go of the root, free-falling from the side of the cliff, just to see what God will do! 

 Sorry for that, somewhat weird and confusing bit of information; but I do believe that it will tie into what God has put upon my heart. Case in point: the word for "joy" that Solomon uses, although we should count it all joy, based upon the fact that our joy is given us with our relationship we have with Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, there is another side to this, "joy," which causes laughter, based upon a glad result! 

 I was reminded of this yesterday, as the topic of Job came up in a conversation. Just a flash image was in my mind, as I saw a quick playback of all that he went through. Having lost everything and was covered in boils, sitting in the dirt, wondering what and why; being convicted by his so-called friends; having a one-on-one with God! All the while, it became something that would end up giving him great joy! 

 To anyone that might be stuck in something where you don't feel joy: You are not unhappy because you aren't where you are meant to be, physically; but you are not where you should be Spiritually! When I was first saved, I was in jail, as most of you know by now. Before I got saved, things were okay; I had a pretty good job in jail, I had several friends, I was making money with my store; but I was very much not where I really wanted to be, which was home with my wife and son! 

 But all of that changed when I was saved and was serving the Lord! Oh, I still wanted to be home, but where I was, was where God had me, and I was filled with joy no matter where I was at! So much so, when I had my first early release hearing, I was instantly denied; as soon as I sat down, one of the panel member's that was judging me, stood up and said, "Denied!"   

 My wife and my employer were there in the room, seeming depressed by the disappointment that I was denied release; but I was somehow full of joy, and stood up, saying, "Praise the Lord!" My wife and my boss looked at each other and then looked at me with a look of concern; while I just shrugged my shoulders, and then was escorted out of the room. 

 Later the evening I called my wife, reassuring her that I wanted to come home, but I also wanted to be where God had me, which was a place where I was doing His work! You might not get the point, not everyone actually does! However, the greatest part of this point is that of joy! Not just the kind of joy that makes you happy, but that makes you expectant and rich and prosperous, not in a financial way, but in a good way, before the Lord! 

 Okay, maybe you still don't get it, (I myself may not either,) but of those three things that Solomon is talking about, joy is the mysterious one, because that is the one which God takes from one, to give to another! To the sinner, it is just about the job or the business; but to the one that is good in God's sight, it is all about serving the Lord...

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites."