Cracking a Smile With God’s Love
Wednesday’s Verses:
From Proverbs 17:22 ESV
A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Joy doesn’t come easily sometimes. Bad things happen. Life hands us its hard stuff. Illness. Grief. Stress. Anxiety. Uncertainty. All of these can make it hard to smile.
Yet Proverbs speaks a simple word, a word almost counterintuitive in its simplicity. A joyful heart is good medicine.
It’s not a feigned smile. It’s not putting on some good cheer when we don’t feel it. It’s something deeper than that. Something more steady. The kind of joy that wells up even in the midst of hard times because we know that even when life doesn’t make sense, God is still God.
As Lutherans, we know this because we know the gospel. The joy that doesn’t have to fade even when life does. The reason we can trust God with our lives is that Christ is still crucified and risen. That reality never changes. That forgiveness of sins is still true. That God’s grace is still true. That your baptism still stands. That God’s promises still stand.
Joy comes from there. It’s the kind of joy that can even laugh when tears are close by. It’s the kind of joy that lets us know that we’re never, ever alone. That our stories are in the hands of a God who knows the end from the beginning—a God who walks with us every step of the way.
Take a deep breath and remember today:
Christ is risen.
Your sins are forgiven.
God is with you.
You are not alone.
Let that truth crack a smile. Let it lift your heart a little. Because that is medicine the world can’t give us—but God does freely.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Lord, fill me with a joyful heart in Your grace. May my spirit rise not because of circumstance but because of Your steadfast promises. Flood me with the balm of joy in Christ. May my heart be opened to love others and smile all day long! Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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