Consider the story of one young man. He was often sick as a baby. He was always small, puny some would say. As a youth he was always frail and delicate.

He was not able to play sports with the other boys his age. Eventually he entered the ministry. But his health was so fragile, he was unable to serve his growing congregation.

Amazingly, he did not dwell on his troubles. In fact, his spirit soared.

His only real complaint was the poor quality of the hymns of his day. He felt they did not convey hope and joy. Someone challenged him to write better ones. He did. He wrote over 600 hymns, most of them hymns of praise.

When his health collapsed completely in 1748, he left one of the most remarkable collection of hymns the world has ever known. His name was Isaac Watts.

In a few weeks we will be singing one of his most famous hymns, “Joy to the World!” Isaac Watts discovered joy in his life because he knew that God would never desert him. He was able to live his life with all sorts of health problems feeling close to God and Jesus. He had joy deep in his heart.

Thanks to Timothy J. Smith for sharing

My Commentary:

Isaac Watts’ story reminds us that God often plants His greatest gifts in the very soil of our weakness.

By every outward measure, Watts seemed an unlikely candidate for influence or inspiration. Frail in body, limited in strength, unable to join the games and pursuits of his peers, he carried burdens that could easily have made him bitter or discouraged. Yet he chose a different path.

Instead of dwelling on what he lacked, he leaned into what God had placed within him.

His spirit expanded even as his body weakened. He saw a need — hymns that lifted hearts, hymns that proclaimed hope — and he offered what he could. His “little” became much in the hands of God.

It is a wise truth: joy does not come from perfect health, perfect circumstances, or a perfect life. Joy arises from knowing we are held, accompanied, and never forsaken by God.

Watts lived with pain, limitation, and disappointment, yet he also lived with a radiant sense of God’s nearness. That nearness became the wellspring of his praise.

So as we sing “Joy to the World!” this Christmas season, we are not just repeating familiar words. We are stepping into the faith of a man whose fragile body could not contain the strength of his song. His life proclaims a message as powerful today as it was then: God’s joy is not the absence of struggle — it is His presence within it.

Despite what You may be going through, do YOU live with a radiant sense of God’s nearness?

THEY LAUGHED AT NOAH…..BUT WHEN THE RAINS CAME…..