Joy and Gratitude

Joy is linked to gratitude, but not in a way that seems obvious. “For it is not joy that makes us grateful.” “It is gratitude that makes us joyful.” Practicing gratitude produces fruits of joy. Gratitude is illustrated in the story of the Philippian jailer who found that his prisoners had stayed to bring him and his house joy.

Reminded of Gratitude

My 27-year old son, Holland, invited me to travel with him to San Francisco and he paid my way. It was a wonderful experience! One of his middle-school teachers responded to my Facebook posts asking, “Is that Holland?” Her question reminded me of my gratitude. I said, “Yes” and thanked her for helping Lizzy and I raise such a good young man. Then, I said, “There were days in middle school when we were worried.” A mom of Holland’s friend Nick chimed in saying, “Thank God they are both okay! It really does take a village.” This is so true and a reminder of the gratitude we should all have for those who have helped us along the way. 

San Francisco is a great place to visit, though, I can’t image how anyone can afford to live there.  I used my Zillow app to check home prices in every neighborhood we visited. The cheapest price I could find was a 700 square foot house for…$1 million. The cheapest rent was a 400 square foot apartment for… $2,400/month. Crazy! I suppose that is why they have so many homeless people and tent cities everywhere. 

Oakland Stadium

Our excuse for going to San Francisco was to watch the Detroit Lions play the Oakland Raiders.  Oakland is a tough town, just like Detroit.  It was fun watching Detroit lose in a different city. 

We visited Alcatraz, which is most famous for being a Federal prison, but started as a Civil War era fort and at one point was taken over by Native Americans to force the United States government into recognizing treaty rights for Native Americans. At Alcatraz, we learned a lot about Al Capone, the prisons most famous “guest.” 

Grateful For Being Alive

In the example of the Philippian jailer, it was truly miraculous that God opened the prison doors.  However, equally miraculous is that Paul and Silas stayed put when the doors opened. In Roman times, to lose a prisoner was catastrophic. The consequences of a prison break would have meant death to the jailer and his family would have lost everything. However, Paul said: “Don’t take your life away: Jesus’ salvation has come.” One can only imagine the sense of salvation the jailer must have felt. He was saved from death; his family was saved for a future. Theirs became a joy that was more consequential than their experiences of vulnerability. Joy poured forth from their deep gratitude at being alive.

“The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”

Acts 16:34

Copyright Chuck Locklear 2019

Also, see How to Be Happy.