city of joy.

City of Joy. Kolkata, India. The place that has part of my heart.

I think it’s funny that Kolkata’s nickname is the City of Joy. There is so much brokenness there—so much that it’s hard to process it all. Girls are being sold and trafficked. Girls are becoming child brides. There is abuse. There are children that have been sacrificed. They stand in lines to worship gods that aren’t the One True God. They live in poverty. It’s just kind of ironic that this is the City of Joy.

BUT if you met the kids and the women that we interacted with, you might not know the past they came from or the situations they are in. There were so many laughs it was beautiful.

These kids and women have been through so much, yet they still have joy on their faces. It’s unbelievable. I don’t think I will get past that. It brought me to tears seeing them laugh, be silly, and just have fun, despite their circumstances.

We worked with kids in a slum village, worked with girls that have been pulled out of the trade or decided to come out, and some that are still in the trade. YET, they still had joy. I was blown away by the smiles on their faces and their spunky personalities.

It makes you take a step back and take a step into their shoes. If you were to go through some of the things they have and are going through, would you have as much joy as they do? I would like to say without a doubt, “yes, I would,” but to be honest I don’t know. And when I think about that, it’s a little punch in the gut.

Especially as a Christian, knowing Who holds my life in His hands, I should be able to say YES, no questions asked! The creator of the universe loves me, and He has a unique plan for me. He knows my past, my present, and my future. So, why wouldn’t I be able to say “yes” without a doubt? Because my human insecurities and human flesh keep me from trusting Him 100% all the time.

And that right there tells you how much we really need Him. He is perfect, and we are not. We have a perfect, caring, and loving God. We can’t do this life on our own.

If my two weeks in India taught me anything, it’s how much we need a Savior. Doing this life on our own is simply impossible. We are broken. We are in need of a Savior to heal us. We are weak, but He is strong. He is so much greater than our hurts, our sorrows, our fears, and our doubts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

His ways and thoughts are so much higher and greater than we can ever imagine. He knows us deeper than we know ourselves. We need Him. Despite our circumstances or fears, let Him be the joy in our lives.

Let’s be like the kids and women in the City of Joy. Let joy be all over our faces.