True Joy

Lawrence Louis, a young Scotch girl can't remember much about the wretch itself. It all happened so fast. But she does remember bits of moments that followed. "I remember taking off in the rescue helicopter", says Lawrence Louis. "I remember looking out the window and noticing how beautiful the hills o'Scotland were, scattered with the pine trees covered with snow…"I remember my father arriving at the hospital, and the look on his face…"I remember throwing up…"And I remember thinking, I'm never going to walk again".

The accident happened two days before Lawrence's 17th birthday. Lawrence and her friends in the choir group in the church took a sight- seeing tour to the countryside in Scotland. Everyone climbed into a car in the early morning. Shortly after they hit the road, snow begins to fall. Within minutes, it turned into a blizzard. It was poor for visibility. The car headed for the hills was doing about 65 mph. By the time the driver saw the snow plow, it was too late. The car crashed into the rear of the plow. Since Lawrence's seat belt did not include a shoulder harness, her upper body was thrown violently forward, damaging her spinal cord - resulting in paralysis.

When she knew that she only could sit in the wheelchair, she became distressed and was under a cloud of spiritual coldness. She couldn't see how she could be the object of God's love when her own heart was so cold and loveless. In the distress of mind, she screamed, "Oh, it is no use! I am lost! I am lost! On such an occasion, her friends availed themselves of the opportunity to speak with her about God's love. That's why Christ came to save the lost, and if you are lost, he is just the One that can save you.

Listening to her friends saying words of comfort, Lawrence was heart broken. She only did the thing she knew to do. She prayed. "I realized I needed the Lord to help me make it through this", she says. "I prayed, Lord, I need you now more than ever". Indeed, with God's help and her friends' encouragement, Lawrence determined to press on and make the best she could out of a bleak situation. She shared her joy with her friends. "I'm not going to kid you", she says. "It's not exciting to be in a wheelchair everyday. I don't always say, "Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity". "I've had my rough times". "However, after my prayers, I attribute that to the Holy Spirit being in me, comforting me, helping me deal with this". "It's taken a long time to accept what happened to me. But I've come to terms with it, "I find joy, true joy, wonderful joy in Christ regardless of my accident and my disability".

Friends! Mankind continually seeks happiness. Many achieve a human satisfaction that provides a temporary lift for their spirits. But true joy that is permanent and eternal is found in Christ. God has come to live among us and to save us from our sins. This true joy is easily found by faith.

Do you have true joy of Christ in your life? Are you willing to accept Christ as your Savior and your Lord for your life. You can by putting your faith in the One whose name is Jesus - "Jehovah is Salvation". "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke. 19:10).