Joy is Enough

The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.  What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.  Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:24-31

I heard it in my sleep last night.  Over and over.  It is enough.  It is enough.  Like an echo lost in a dream I can't remember.  

So I looked for it.  That phrase.  I looked in the events of the past day - a wonderful day of joy and fellowship - a youth outing to the beach.  No.  It wasn't the activities of the day.

I looked at the events of the day.  Relationship.  The acceptance my daughter received from the group we were with.  The sometimes difficult job of guiding her behavior with them.  Yes, I'd said "That's enough," to my girl - enough waiting to be the center of attention, enough emotional manipulation, enough social poor-me.  But no, that wasn't my dream.  It is enough.

I looked at the summer.  The move.  The vacation.  The budget.  My I-don't-have-a-job-yet situation.  Maybe.  Maybe it's enough worrying.  After all, we are in our Father's care.  Maybe it's enough with the twinges of gotta-do's, and our never-ending list of home-improvement projects.  

I looked at my writing.  Maybe it's this blog; it has been consuming my thoughts with topic, tone, readership, comments, and future plans.  Can I turn my writing into a job?  Is it good enough?  What do I do; how do I start?  Is that the purpose of my posts - to make money?  To earn a living?  To find joy and share?

I opened my concordance.  It is enough.  Right there in Matthew.  Oh my!  And it's about teachers and students and speaking and proclaiming.  It even reminds me of how well and how much God cares for each of us - even me.  So there is the answer to all of my maybes.  The job applications will stay open - something will come because I am in my Father's care.  The house is enough.  It has been made home.  The blog will continue because I need to speak in the daylight and proclaim from the roofs what is whispered to me in the dark.  No fear.  Jesus was not Lord of the Flies;  He was Lord of Joy.  I will continue to seek joy in the everydays and ordinarys around me.  Joy is my path; joy is enough.

Father, thank you for life.  Help me to find your joy everyday.