“You’ve just landed in India!” our new teammates quipped, brimming with excitement over our arrival in a city with no other expats. “Let’s celebrate!” The air sparked with exhilaration, as if we’d just donned a gold medal or were crowned the winners of some pageant.

Our friends showered us with their best foods, their best welcome, and their most fervent smiles. They fed us lasagna and chocolate cake—the preparation of which was no small feat in a land where most celebrations meant curry and gulab jamin, a spongy and sticky sweet confection.

The next day, our friends said, “It’s your second day in India, let’s celebrate!”

We hopped in a rickshaw to a local breakfast place, licking masala dosas from the plates of this exotic new experience. Cloaked in our friends’ enthusiasm, we patted each other on the back for a second day in country. This sense of achievement fueled our desire to accomplish more.

That weekend, our new teammates said, “It’s our daughter’s birthday, your first week in India, and the marker of our first year in India. Let’s celebrate!”

The twelve of us crammed into a seven-seater car to drive to a nearby beach. Our friends catered a meal from one of the beachside restaurants as we settled on a small patch of green lawn, a hard-to-find luxury in India. Our server, dressed in a full white suit, grilled barbeque chicken on a makeshift oil drum barrel. He fanned the coals, sending up sparks in the night that resonated with the sparks in our souls.

The dancing lights of fire matched the excitement we felt, as if we were standing at some new edge that we had climbed with our friends. We ate together in the dark, sitting on the green lawn under mango trees, lanterns swinging from the branches, a gentle lap lap from the waves complimenting our laughter and stories.

Descriptions of feasts weave through countless stories in Scripture. The book of Revelation is replete with images of creatures of all kinds praising God and applauding humankind around the thrones of heaven.

Even in the darkest places on earth, we witness God’s people celebrating victories and living in postures of encouragement. David wrote that even in the valley of the shadow of death, God would “prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5a).

Such a feasting table, set amid death’s shadow, affirms that good wins over evil in that place.

It represents the celebration that David could rest in God in a time of darkness.

It stands as a reminder for us to celebrate with thanksgiving to our God who is with us.

Mastering the heavenly art of celebration in the midst of our valleys is essential to our worship of and joy in a God who has surely sealed the victory over evil through Jesus Christ.

What will you do today to worship God in celebration?

Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/the-art-of-celebration