Do you lament that moments of beauty, joy, and laughter in your life are so fleeting? It’s like one of those Instagram videos of a toddler eagerly smiling and accepting a slice of lime (“Ooh, a new food!”), which gives way to a puckered and confused expression (“Wait, what?!”). Moments of joy are too easily swallowed up by intrusions small and large. These joy interrupters could be the next hard thing on our rapidly expanding to-do list on a given day, or the shocking news of a loved one’s cancer diagnosis. Whether minute or monumental, the challenges and griefs of life in this fallen world can quickly overshadow our perception of the good that God brings into our lives.

What can we do about this? I’ve been considering lately how to amplify singular moments of joy or beauty that God gives me. I want them to be longer-lasting, more durable experiences of thanksgiving that coexist with ongoing hardship, sorrow, or struggle with sin. The answer is not to cover our eyes and put our heads in the sand regarding the difficult aspects of life. Sometimes these intrusions of suffering or sin are just too massive and tragic to ignore. What


To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.