I want to laugh at the days to come. My prayer for this month is for laughter to fill our hearts and to believe that God is good and his plans for us are good. It is tempting to associate the good life with something physical, yet when the physical breaks, it’s hard to see the good in that.
I pray to remain confident of God’s goodness, even if I don’t get the things I have my heart set on. I admit being guilty of having a wrong assumption that because God is good he will give me the things I want. By God’s grace, he is freeing me from a limited and small understanding of what is good so I can experience the huge and satisfying good that he has planned for us.
This is God’s goodness to us today … he filled our hearts with laughter. He replaced our tears with smiles and refreshed our countenance with joy. By faith and hope, I believe that we shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! (Psalm 27:13) We will laugh at the days to come.
One of my greatest joys in this world is to sing with all my heart songs of our faith, of the Mighty Work and Victory of Jesus Christ for broken people. I especially like to do so in the face of all the suffering, pain, death, diagnoses, weakness, confusion, darkness and so, through faith, to lift up my heart to Him-who-is-my-Hope and laugh at the days to come. —Jason T. Dorsey, Lead Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, IN
The Lord is my Joy by Nathan Partain
The Lord is my Joy, the Lord is my joy
When all that I have is lost, I find
The Lord is my Joy.
The Lord is my strength, the Lord is my strength,
When I am too weak to go on, I find
The Lord is my strength.
My all in all is he, My healing King
My Master tends to me, for him, my soul shall sing.
The Lord is my rock, the Lord is my rock,
When all I have faith in fails, I find
The Lord is my rock.
The Lord is my delight, the Lord is my delight,
Above all the joys of life, I find
The Lord is my delight.
My all in all is he, my breath, my song.
In him I have everything; to him, my soul belongs.
I wait, and wait upon you, To come for me in rescue.
Give strength, my heart is failing, yet still, my lips will praise you.
And with his wings he covers me, he keeps his watch when I’m asleep,
I offer all my thoughts and dreams, I give my savior everything.
You who gave your only son, I dare not doubt your steadfast love.
Come, I beg you take my life, if am yours then all is right.
My all in all is he, my dearest friend.
I put my trust in him; on him, my soul depends.
Donna Harris‑More Grace 