The joy we receive from God is so deep that it never runs out, nor evaporates by the heat of life. Like an evergreen oasis in the middle of a dessert, it can be surrounded by dry land & hot atmosphere. It nonetheless continues to uphold a life of marked difference. It is joy released from within, not collected from our surrounding. Whatever happens to us is like an icing on the cake, decorative than decisive.

Of course we are pleased in the food we eat, work we do, relationship we maintain, and dreams we realize. None of these however can be as lasting and flourishing as the joy we enjoy in God of our salvation. Paul wrote, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Ro 14:17). A “kingdom” within the kingdom on earth – that is our Oasis.