Followby Gordy McCoy
I am learning that having joy has so much to do with attitude and that it is a daily choice to live in HIS joy. It’s not dependent on how much money I have, where I live, the job I have, how well I am liked, if life is going well, or not, it’s about HIM and me.
Now I am not ignoring the fact of the impact of lifes’ blows that rock our world. We need time to regain our focus when disaster, turmoil or heartbreak cuts us to the core. I’m talking about day to day life. When the storms come we don’t want the storm to overtake us. We need His stability, His direction, His presence so we don’t feel shipwrecked.
A poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, wrote:
One ship sails east,
One ship sails west,
Regardless of how the wind blows.
It is the set of the sail
And not the gale
That determines the way we go.
Regardless of how severely the winds of adversity may blow, we set our sails toward joy.
If we look at things thru God’s point of view, having confidence in Him, it helps when we are having a bad day. He is at work even when we don’t see it and good can come out of hard situations. We need to look hard, not at our struggles but ……at Him. He has a purpose and in the midst of our troubles we need to fix our thoughts on Him. Sometimes being determined to get to laugh again, realizing it’s a good medicine is healing. It’s much better than whining our way thru life complaining we never got a fair shake. We have the choice.
When the path before us looks easy, we made be tempted to go in our own strength instead of relying on Christ. This is when we are in the greatest danger of stumbling. We need to ask His Spirit to help us as we go each step of the way, never neglecting the privilege and power of this glorious source of strength within us.
Remembering that true joy is not dependent on our circumstances but a a by-product of living in His presence. Therefore, we can experience it whether in a palace or a prison. If we would make problem -solving secondary to the goal of living close to Christ, we can have the peace that doesn’t make any sense to the world.
Some days joy shines brightly on our path, glistening in the Son. Other days, it can be gloomy and foreboding and yet there is the Light shining thru to light our way and remind us of His presence. It is a sharp contrast to the dark trials we face. Joy is still attainable thru the trails. Not the happy ha-ha joy but the thankfulness that He is there and we are happy we belong to Him. Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity. That is why we are to give thanks for everything. There is an element of mystery in this transaction. We give Him thanks and He gives us joy. That sounds like a fair trade to me.
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