The Return of Joy

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one's youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:3-5

Last week, I was really struggling with unbelief in relation to this passage. Sometimes it is easy to forget the spiritual battle that is constantly raging on in the unseen realm: angels and demons constantly fighting back and forth for influence over the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual states of people everywhere. That's an overwhelming thought.

One night of sleep was again interrupted and when it came time to wake that morning to face the demands of the day, deep depression loomed overhead. Depression gave way to near hopelessness which eventually over a few hours or days became self-pity. "Gift," "reward," and "blessed" were not the words I would have described the parental state at that time.

Help was graciously given over a couple of days that allowed my body, mind and spirit time to rediscover the Biblical perspective. Yesterday as I remained home with my daughters, the Holy Spirit reminded me of some of the cute things they do and caused me to realize those things I would miss had they not entered our family: no little language, smiles, laughs, happy squeals, running, crawling, little kisses and hugs, and all the rest. And so . . . joy returned.

I guess, as with any responsibility, we have to take the good with the bad and the ugly all together. And I remembered, as it is sooo easy to forget, that they will not always be in diapers, make messes, speak unclearly, cry, whine, disobey, etc. They will grow up and be young people and adults one day, Lord willing. This time of their infant years will pass.

One other thought: there are people of every age who think and act like they don't know what God wants them to do. So they pray and fast, groping for God trying to grasp some mystical sense of God's will for the direction of their lives. "If God could just tell me - write it on the sky - then I would do whatever He wants with my life." But God has made it clear - at least what His will is generally across gender differences: women are to work at home, helping their husbands and nurturing the next generation. Passages like Proverbs 31, Titus 2, 1 Peter 3 all apply. There is no need to grope in fear and uncertainty, knowledge has been revealed. And there is great comfort and joy in that too.