Life is a continual feast
All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15
When we have a merry heart, life is a continuous feast. There are many feasts in the Bible to celebrate God's goodness and Jesus attended banquets and celebrated various feasts, and He used the great banquet parables to tell us about the kingdom, and the ultimate banquet is the wedding supper of the lamb in Revelation 19:9.
Many feasts include a sumptuous meal and a company of guests, as well as entertainment. I just returned from a weekend retreat organised by my church, which was like a feast, unlike the traditional idea of retreats as quiet and simple.
The retreat was like a celebration feast, held in the hotel's grand banquet hall, with buffet style meals. We were truly blessed by the sumptuous arrangements, but God's feast isn't about food or comfort. God's feast is about celebrating His goodness from our hearts. It's a spiritual celebration.
As we gathered in the hall during the retreat for prolonged worship and the Holy Spirit time, that was a foretaste of what God's kingdom is like. "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17. It was one of my personal highlights of the feast-like retreat to sing, dance, and worship God with my might through flag worship.
Can we have a feast that never ends? Absolutely. It all begins with a merry heart. When life hits us hard, how can we still rejoice in the midst of hardship and persecution? In my opinion, we have a choice between living a miserable life or living a wonderful one filled with contentment and faith in the goodness of God.
When we count His blessings, and see that Paul took pleasure in afflictions and told us to "rejoice always", James told us to count them all joy in the midst of trials, and the word "merry" in Hebrew means goodness, when we choose to focus on God’s goodness and bask in His presence, our afflicted heart will turn into a merry heart, with a fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore.
Blessing prayer: You have turned our mourning into dancing. All the days of our lives, we will praise and rejoice in your goodness and salvation! In Jesus’s name, Amen
