Golf, Burma, and Joy to be Had

I love it when God surprises me. I have a friend who was a very successful businessman. He took early retirement. He loves golf so he ended up spending quite a bit of time on the golf course. I worried about him. I worried because I longed for him to get really involved with his faith and experience what he really had never experienced while he was working so much. I didn't really know how to go about it and I guess I felt guilty I had not been successful in helping him make a transition to really serving God. I saw him at the bank the other day. I asked how golf was going. He said,"Great". But then he talked for about 15 minutes about the refugee kids from Burma he was involved with in inner city Akron. My friend had hooked up with one of our ministry partners, Urban Vision, and had been volunteering for quite some time. His face lit up. Golf was great but the Burmese kids really lit him up. I walked away thanking God. My friend had found the deep joy of the kingdom. It made me smile, in fact, it made my day. It is interesting. We could have talked about golf and it would have been fine. I would have completely forgotten about it by now. But we talked about Burmese kids. We shared something deeper than the last round. I have since prayed for the kids from Burma that are living in down town Akron. I have prayed for my friend. And I have smiled and been reminded that the currency of the kingdom of God is joy. So, from Burma to Akron, from Akron to Hudson, from Hudson to my friend, from my friend to my heart, God speaks and changes the world. Let God change the world just a little through you today and experience the joy He has been holding just for you since the foundation of the world.