What Brings You Joy?

This is Belle.  She's our Great Pyrenees dog.  Right off the top of my head I can think of only one other creature with the adjective "Great" before its name.  That would be the Great White Shark.  If you had the adjective "great" preceding your name, you might be tempted to become prideful, but Belle isn't like that.  She's not pretentious or grandiose in the way she carries herself.  She's just Belle.  She's a people person and enjoys spending time with us.

Take the other morning, for example.  I was trying to study for our Sunday School lesson on the back patio.  Belle wanted in on the study.  She's so big that when she gets near, there's no room for any study materials.  How could you turn that face away, though?  I think she's smiling, but that just may be me assuming things.  She seems happy, anyway.

Our study in on the Book of Acts, and it is talking about the explosive growth of the early church, brought about by the Holy Spirit and the change that came over the apostles due to the Spirit's power, changing them from fearful men who denied Him to bold witnesses of His power and deity.  They became witnesses of who Christ is and what He's done for you and me.  As believers, we're called to be His witnesses as well in a world that is growing ever darker.  It seems hard, and I won't lie, sometimes it is hard, but we're not to do it in our own power.  In fact, we can't do it in our own power.  He will embolden us.

We drove 3 1/2 hours to North Houston the other night to share a meal and fellowship with 3 other couples.  Tricia has a high school group that she's in touch with, so it was the four girls and their husbands in attendance.  We visited and ate a great meal and enjoyed one another's company for several hours just conversing across the table.  One of the girls asked a question as we sat around the table.  She and her husband had once been missionaries in Israel.  She wanted everyone to consider and communicate to the rest of the group something in their lives that brings them great joy.

I like "ice breaker" types of questions like that.  We have a list of them that we keep on our kitchen table.  Instead of small talk, it is interesting to get deeper and probe to really get to know people and what makes them tick, what's important to them, what they value.  When the question was asked, my mind immediately went the something that had occurred the night before.  I'll show you the photo first:

The sun was going down.  The field directly across the street from our house is a big hay field.  The owners of the field had cut the hay the day before and fluffed it.  A baler was brought in and they made round bales.  You could smell the cut hay as the aroma wafted across the landscape.  On an otherwise hot day, the cool of the evening was settling in and the sun sunk low in the western sky.  The very hand of God was painting a masterpiece on a big canvas.  Tricia and I were walking down the road taking in the spectacular view.  I happened to have my phone and snapped a photo as we stopped to admire it.  

Back to the answer of the question.  What brings you joy?  Tricia's turn was first and she described what I described in the preceding paragraph.  She took my answer!  It is uncanny how we are so alike in our thoughts sometimes (and then how different we can be at other times, ha ha!)  I often talk about simple pleasures in life.  Looking at a pastoral landscape like this just brings me joy and peace and happiness.

You know what I missed, though?  I missed an opportunity to point to the Creator.  To give credit and glory to the Master Painter who painted that masterpiece in the sky.  Lord, forgive me for that.  I don't ever want to seem "preachy," but I don't want to ever miss that opportunity again.  In everything, we should point to God and give Him the glory.  That remarkable sunset didn't just happen.  God put us in that exact location to view a beautiful moment.  We didn't need to travel anywhere or spend any money.  We have a benevolent God who gave us exactly what we need.  We have a wonderful Savior in Jesus, a great family, people who love us.  We have air in our lungs and another day to enjoy His blessings. 

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12