Boundless Joy

Diamonds in the Dust   J.E. Tada

We must abide in Him and let His Word abide in us if we are to know Christ in a deep and intimate way. Deep devotion to the Lord Jesus energizes service that is not tiring or rigorous. Affection for Him that is warm and heartfelt gives boundless joy to every task.

Ps 27.4-5

Today I was considering "fear", and Joni's words above fit in a way...when God is the center of our lives, and His Word circulates throughout our minds, we lose fear. Fear is not from God, and fear devastates the entirety of the human mind, soul and body if allowed to belong and become a god for even a moment. 
I am afraid of so many things it would take a book to describe and explain each fear. The one circulating mainly now is that I am doing somewhat better. Now, a chronically ill person lives for days of which the disease is less, and lives in fear that those days are short or non-existent. I can (am) be afraid because is this current lull in my sickness permanent? Will it increase? Will it vanish in a couple of hours as it has other times? I can allow myself to get caught into a never ceasing circle of near-hell by thinking these thoughts. 
Why not think, with such great and wondrous joy, like the Psalm I shared? To think only the Lord, His beauty, the great Kingdom that is His? The fact that He will, with a word from me, banish evil from poisoning my thoughts, cover me safely in His arms. 
When our thoughts are fully inundated with God's presence, the trials we face nearly vanish. Yes, I am sick, sometimes very sick. I see others on my support groups facing even worse illnesses, or even better illnesses. I see and hear friends facing such hard things. Yet I know, from being so very sick at the beginning of this long year, that being focused on God, calling upon Him at all hours, will yield great relief. 
We may have to face the consequences of Sin's evil touch...the way emotions wreck bodies and health, the way genetics and their disasters from past sins ruin lives...but we never have to face it alone. God is always half a thought away. He hears our cries, and comforts us. He knows how hard this world is...I am still devastated that Jesus wept. If our God would cry on this earth, He knows. He will not leave us alone to battle our battles. Jesus was forsaken by God for our sins; we will not be forsaken. Cry out to Him, lean on Him. Oh, the power of His great love.