Inexpressible Joy

‘Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not even see Him now, you believe and trust in Him and greatly rejoice and delight with inexpressible and glorious joy’

1 Peter 1:8

My life verse. 

I was sitting on my bed on the night I gave my heart to God as a sensitive, openhearted yet quite mixed up young girl.    Life had already taken a number of unexpected twists & turns by the time I had reached sixteen and I knew without doubt I was headed in the wrong direction.  The only reason I wasn’t taking drugs with my group of friends in the Valley was because I had promised Mum I wouldn’t.  That didn’t stop me doing other things behind my parents back, but I knew if I went down that path I may not ever come back.

A song came out around the same time as I made my decision that night to live for Him: ‘Jesus lover of my Soul’.  It spoke to me in the deepest way because I knew He literally took me from the miry clay and placed me on a rock higher than anywhere I had been before.

Anyway back to that night.  After a huge meeting at church (now Citipointe Brisbane) I came home with my head buzzing. I tried to pray but couldn’t.  I stared out my window at a million stars and wondered where God was. I had just promised my heart & soul to what felt like an untouchable stranger. 

I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom and all of a sudden felt hopeless.  I wished I could see Jesus in real life to cement my belief – a tangible confirmation that my decision wasn’t based on an emotional response.   I wondered how I could even begin this journey when I was already questioning the basics, and my prayers seemed like words spinning in the air.

Then I grabbed my Bible and opened it up, with a simple prayer that I meant.

“God – help me know you”

I opened up to 1 Peter and the verse above came alive. I read it over and over, and it dawned on me – this is what faith is!  Believing when you don’t see who you believe in.   Loving the One who loved me first.  Trusting because you know He has the answers.

When you finally see that you are loved beyond measure, created with a purpose and have an eternal destiny, there are a lot of reasons to rejoice & delight. 

One translation of Joy is “an awareness of God’s grace” 

WOW!  It is the awareness that He gave all so we could have all that brings us to our knees and gives us inexpressible joy.  I didn’t deserve His gift of eternity that night – yet every day His grace is there waiting for me just as it is waiting for you.

That night, 30 years ago, He heard all the words I thought had fallen to the floor, & He has heard all of my prayers since then.  He has answered them in ways I could never have imagined & given me above and beyond what I could ever thought possible.

This verse helped cement my belief system, and I went to sleep that night with a peace I hadn’t experienced before.  

I believed.

“Jesus, lover of my soul
Jesus, I will never let You go
You've taken me from the miry clay
You've set my feet upon the rock
And now, I know

I love You, I need You
Though my world may fall
I'll never let You go
My Saviour, my closest friend
I will worship You until the very end”