The
“honeymoon phase” of relationships is so fun and so easy.
All
the good feelings and emotions take precedence over any negative at all.
But
the reality is, that phase ends.
The
good feelings and emotions neutralize,
we
come back down to earth,
and
reality sets in.
Sometimes
the truth is,
the
outline above describes our relationship with Christ.
We
are so in love!
We
can’t imagine life without Christ!
We
won’t ever sin again!
Prayer
is something we just can’t get enough of!
We
can’t find enough ministries to belong to!
We
can’t get through the Bible fast enough!
The
Rosary seems like the best time of our day!
And,
and, and.
And
then
the
“honeymoon phase” ends.
For
whatever reason.
Reality.
Life.
Circumstances.
Emotions
fade.
Feelings
wane.
Time
gets the best of us.
This
is reality, unfortunately.
We
go through these dry spells.
These
times of questioning.
Of
being captivated by the world.
The
prayer that we once held so dear
is
now a well run dry.
We
might consider this shameful or embarrassing
but
the thing is,
we
are not alone in this.
See,
the psalmist, David, felt these feelings too.
Thousands
of year ago.
He
wrote a Psalm about it.
Psalm
51.
“A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.”
Psalms 51:12
And
thousands of year after David first expressed these feelings,
a
modern Christian artist expressed the same feelings.
Jon
Foreman wrote a song called White as Snow
in which he sings:
“Would You create in me a clean heart, oh God.
Restore in me the joy of Your salvation.”
Both
men crying out for forgiveness.
Asking
if the Lord could possibly forgive their wandering,
their
faulty choices,
their
flighty emotions,
and
make their hearts clean, once again.
Not
only did they ask for a clean heart,
but
they also asked that the Lord give them a reason to be joyful again.
A
way to possibly extend that “honeymoon phase”.
Interestingly
enough,
that
requested joy had nothing to do with the things of the world.
Quite
the opposite.
Lord,
let us find joy in your salvation.
These
men, realized that there was not joy to be found in the things of the world.
The
true joy was to be found in salvation.
In
the opportunity of eternal life with Christ
because
He took on death so that we didn’t have to.
Brothers
and sisters, you see, there is always joy to be found.
Even
in the dark, dull moments of our faith.
Even
in the doubt and questioning.
Even
when our emotions decide to take off in another direction.
It
isn’t necessarily easy to find that joy.
Maybe
we aren’t really sure how to.
But
we might be able to take some advice from some incredible Christians and simply
pray:
“Would You create in me a clean heart, oh God.
Restore in me the joy of Your salvation.”
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