River of Joy

Why, if we can be carried along by a surging current of God's passion, does it seem so easy to be distracted by illicit diversions? I thought of the rocks and obstacles that are found in white-water rapids and then remembered what happens when the water level is too low. The less water there is the more difficult it is to get downstream and the easier it is to get hung up on the rocks and debris.

The thought then came to me that the river is joy – yet another fine analogy for this most important ingredient of life. And this too would explain why it is so urgent that we raise our level of joy as we near the end of time. Satan has strategically placed all sorts of obstacles in our riverbed, some of them quite sharp and some quite large. Many times they seem to be insurmountable, but that is because our water level of joy and intimacy with God is so low that we have to get up and carry our raft much of the way. We seem content to just enjoy ankle-deep levels of the joy of the Lord and think that all this work and all these “trials” are just what must be normal and we have to just live with it.

But I believe God's plan and desire for us is to open the floodgates of heaven by opening our hearts to become open channels for His love and passion to flow through us. Then we will discover to our amazement that many of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in our path before have disappeared underwater and we find ourself riding the wild whitewater with abandon and excitement as we rest deeper and deeper in the confidence of God's love and protection.

If temptations seem to be overwhelming, faith to be always just out of reach and depression and discouragement seem to be too often destroying all our peace, I would venture to say that a strong indulgence in our hearts being ravished in the passion of God just might change our perspective a great deal and even elevate us from being slammed around by rocks and obstacles to riding the waves with the thrill of adventure. We might even look forward to the trials and learn to rejoice in them as we are instructed in James if we saw them all as opportunities for making our ride exciting. And that is all very much dependent on how much joy we allow to pass through the gates of our hearts.