Back in January, Peachtree offered the congregation a “Know Your Pastors” webinar so that we all might get to know each other a bit better. During that webinar, each pastor was asked a question that centered around the idea, “What part of your job do you enjoy the most?” As I reflect back on that conversation, I think I should have begun my answer stating that I do not feel I simply have “a job at Peachtree.” Instead I am privileged to live into the call that God has placed upon my life. This Godly call is why I find joy in so many aspects of it, especially the hard ones.
These three verses speak to the amazing ways in which God provides joy for us when He is present in our lives. Most scholars believe that the prophet Ezra or one of his contemporaries penned these words when the people of Judah returned from their exile in Babylon, probably as they rebuilt the temple that had been destroyed years earlier by King Nebuchadnezzar. In that moment when the Temple was finally rebuilt, the place central to their worship and where they believed God dwelt, a joy that surpassed all understanding took hold of them.
On that first Sunday when Peachtree reopened our doors for in-person worship last September, I felt that same stirring of joy. I have felt that joy ever-increasing each Sunday, especially when I am able to walk the halls as the children make their way to Sunday School. I know then in my heart that the Lord has done great things for us. In a time when it has been easy to lose sight of the joy that God has given us as a sign of His grace, we have the choice to be filled with joy or to live as those who have no hope. In these moments, I choose to listen to the words of Israel’s great leader, Joshua, who said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”