Day 14- 40 Days of Prayer Got joy? We were sitting on the bench, simultaneously bobbing in the rhythm of the passenger train car. The monotonous noise of the railway almost put us to sleep when we noticed it. With a little elbow nudge, my friend nodded in front of us and whispered: “Did you see that?” Two teenage girls were sleeping while in a sitting position on the bench across, in front of us. It was not the first time we have seen something like that. That’s usual in a place where traveling by train is the main way of transportation for long distances. The excitement and glamour of going with the “choo-choo train” rubs off fairly quickly when you have to sit for hours. Besides reading, the best thing to do is to just doze off so that time will pass quicker. What was unusual this time was that those two girls had a smile on their face. Both of them! While sleeping! We watched for a few minutes just to make sure they were not playing some kind of a trick. They were actually sleeping and smiling in the same time! I know, weird, isn’t it?! We have heard them talking later, and they didn’t seem to be some religious freaks, who would try to push their beliefs on you or something else like that. They were just two normal girls, born again Christians, minding their own business and not trying to impress anyone. That image got stuck in my mind since then. I have never seen anything like that before or after. Coming to this country I was impressed with the way people always smile here. Everyone on the street, neighbors and strangers alike, would smile and say “Hi!”. That would happen as long as your eyes are locked in with their eyes. However, as soon as they pass by you, pay attention next time and see how that big smile disappears, and their face goes automatically to the previous shape. It’s like having a switch in your pocket with which you can control the white of their teeth: switch on – smile; switch off – no smile; switch on – smile; switch off – no smile. And the process can be repeated, mechanically, as many times as necessary. I get it: people try to be polite, that’s why they smile. It would be rude if you show your bitter face when they greet you with a smile. But I cannot escape the feeling that many times the smile is nothing else but that, a polite gesture. Sometimes though I would prefer the genuine, I-don’t-care face instead of the fake, plastic smile. Or, if it were a smile, a true one would do actually some good around. A true, genuine smile – what would be the source of that? Is there anything that would cause you to have it “on” all the time, maybe even during the sleep? There are some people whose smile is contagious: they make you smile too. You can see it on their glowing face, it’s not just skin deep, it comes from somewhere inside. It’s like a fire hydrant that cannot be contained. It comes gushing from their inside joy and those in their company are involuntarily touched and changed. It was the same with Paul and Silas. They were put in prison for preaching the Gospel in Philippi (Acts 16:16-38). Treated unjustly as criminals, without a trial, they were thrown into the inner cell, the high security area. Hands and feet fastened into the wooden stocks, they still find the resources to pray and sing hymns to God. You can probably imagine that given the environment, they could have taken a break from their missionary zeal and try to rest and recollect their thoughts on what just happen. Reading between the lines in the Bible passage, you can almost see their big smile, shining in the darkness. As a result of their living testimony, the jailer and his family is baptized that very night. What made Paul and Silas so happy? What was the secret behind their contentment? Something here goes beyond explanation and has to be experienced in order to be understood. Paul himself puts it this way in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” There are many solemn things in this world that can make you to seriously ponder about life on this earth. However, when you receive Christ, when you are forgiven and given a new life, by grace, everything else dims in importance compared with His love. Christ’s grace manifested through the presence of the Spirit in your life becomes the invisible, unending source of joy and contentment. It is the kind of contentment that doesn’t depend on wealth and ignores poverty; it does not depend on sunshine nor disappears in the rain. It is the fruit of the Spirit of God dwelling in you! But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22) Today, let “the joy of the Lord be your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 09:07:24 +0000
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