My Lectio reading for today (actually from the One-Minute Bible for Students) opens with Psalm 104: 31-34:
May the glory of the Lord last forever
The Lord rejoices in all he has made!
The earth trebles at his glance;
the mountains burst forth into flame at his touch.
I will isng to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
May he be please by all these thoughts about him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.

The commentary talks about the difference between happiness and joy. It says that happiness is dependent on circumstances but that joy is a continuing attitude that doesn't change when situations change. I find it interesting to apply this to God. Psalms says that the Lord rejoices in all he has made--a continuing joy that doesn't disappear no matter how much we mess things up or disappoint him. I think that explains a lot.

Today's Meditation
My reading today starts with Psalm 33:1-4. In that, verse 4 really jumps out at me.
For the word of the Lord holds true, and everything he does is worthy of our trust. (Italics mine)
Not just the stuff we like, or the stuff that fits in with our plans, but everything He does. Even the stuff that is so far out of whack with what we want that it seems like it's not God's doing. Everything He does is worthy of our trust. But we make the choice to trust or not. God's grace and love are eternal and unchanging. Our joy, our response to that, is, to some extent at least, under our control. Lately I've gotten to know many unhappy people. And the thing is--they have no apparent reason to be unhappy. They have their basic needs met, people who care about them-enough even to care about them when they are doing nothing but complaining. They have families, health, church, jobs, all they things we think we need and they still radiate unhappiness. How sad. Sometimes, I know, it's not under their control and we all have unhappinesses in our lives that are unavoidable and not visible to others. But these people are unhappy about minor things--they just don't like this or that, all the time. No matter what God or anyone else does, it's never good enough. Dear God, remind me that my joy is just that, MY joy and that when I find myself unhappy about everything around me maybe it's not what's around me but what's inside me that needs the adjustment.

I am so sleepy I can just barely focus. This is really wierd, because I didn't get to sleep all that late last night. I have noticed, however, how often Sunday just leaves me drained. Even before I started to work in the church--which means that Sunday is a work day for me, not a Sabbath--I would still often start the week exhausted from all the church activities on Sunday. Something is badly wrong with this. The only people I know anymore who end up Sundays refreshed are the ones who have no place at all for church in their life. Why is it that the only people who don't rest on God's day of rest anymore are God's people? How does that work? And, more importantly, what can we do about it?