From 50 Days of Devotion and Fasting:
By Terry Huey
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
You know life can and will get you down if you let it. So, don’t. Let me explain why I am making such a bold statement. Almost two years ago when I returned to Wildwood as the Student Pastor, even though we had to be apart for a while, it was a very exciting time in the life of my family. There were days though when I would get very overwhelmed. I was away from my family, I needed to sell the home that we had just built, we had to find a new home here in Atlanta, and then there were the challenges I was facing in my new ministry. There were days that I felt weighed down with it all. There were times when I would slide back away from my desk, place my head in my hands, run my fingers over the top of my head (notice I didn’t say through my hair), take a deep breath and say, “Lord, help me.”
One day, while sitting at my desk and having one of those moments I just mentioned, I grabbed a rubber, bouncy ball that was on my desk. I bounced it off the wall a couple of times and then I gave it a nice, hard throw. At which point I found myself trying to dodge the ball and trying to keep from receiving a black eye since the ball was ricocheting off of anything and everything in my office.
I began to laugh at myself, and for safety sake, I took the ball outside to the back parking lot where, again, I started to bounce and chase the half-inch in diameter sphere from one end of the parking lot to the other while giggling my frustrations away. Winded and in need of some water, I started to walk back into my office when the Father reminded me of Proverbs 17:22. I took a minute to pray and to simply say, “Father, help me to keep joy in my heart by remembering to laugh. Please don’t let me get so caught up in the stuff of this world that I dry up and I feel as if I have nothing to offer.”
I placed that ball in my pocket and started carrying it around everywhere I went. Then one day I was placing my order at Burger King and the young girl taking my order did not seem able to muster up even a grin. I pulled out that multi-colored bouncy ball and said, “This may seem a bit silly, but God loves you. He says ‘a joyful heart is good medicine,’ so take this little ball and bounce it until it makes you smile, and possibly feel a little goofy. Keep it as long as you need to and then pass it on to someone else that may need it more than you.”
She took that ball, smiled and placed it in her pocket. Since then I have started a collection of rubber, bouncy balls and I make sure that I always have one with me; to use if I need it for myself or to give away to someone that seems to need some encouragement.
It may seem somewhat strange, but the Father works in mysterious ways and in my case he used a ten cent, rubber, bouncy ball to put joy back in my heart. The cool thing is, I’m not sure just how many of those balls I have given away to date, but not one person has ever not smiled or refused to take the bouncy ball when I have offered it to them.
The Father wants our hearts to be filled with joy so that our lives are a beautiful reflection of the amazing God and friend we have in Him.
