Everything Andrew touched turned to gold. After college he rented a funky space in downtown New Orleans. He poured money into it and transformed it into a restaurant he called “The Grotto.” The Grotto became the city’s hot spot. It was wildly successful, and Andrew was the owner and chef. Then the landlord raised the rent and put The Grotto out of business. Andrew was suddenly the owner of a restaurant that failed. Andrew failed.
Worse still, Andrew’s father, a jeweler and preacher, died when Andrew was in second grade. Andrew never recovered. Andrew was not a talker. He buried the loss inside himself like an abscess. Then his restaurant failed and Andrew bounced around the food industry for twenty years, never finding the right fit and always blaming everyone else. Then one day Andrew drank himself to death.
Andrew achieved great successes but he suffered too, and he had no father to teach him what to do with grief and failure. Andrew needed to be taught joy.
Perhaps his preacher father would have pointed to Ecclesiastes: Life is hard and unfair, but you can find the joy of the Lord in anything.
King Jehoshaphat understood. “His mind rejoiced in the Lord’s ways” and the king sent his top officials to TEACH God’s joy-filled ways to the people. 2 Chronicles 17:6-7. If only Andrew could have learned God’s way to find joy during grief and failure. Andrew was wry and funny, but no one would ever describe him as happy. He needed a teacher to teach him about joy.
God, teach us to find joy in all things, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Most of all, to find joy in Your ways. Help us find joy in our work, our meals, our family and friends, in nice days and stormy days, and in all things. Help us live it and teach it: “find joy in the Lord always!” Philippians 4:4.
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