Joy

Are you feeling the ‘joy’ lately?  Do you find that your joy level isn’t quite what you’ve expected it to be now that it’s December and only 2 weeks away from the most celebrated and joyous occasion of the year?

Lots of things can impact our joy levels.  Believe me…my joy level hasn’t been the best the past few weeks.  If fact I feel like I’ve been through a joy crusher instead of a joy infuser.  No, it’s not because of rushing around getting ready for Christmas or having too high of expectations of Christmas.  It’s just life.  Things that I have no control over and don’t have anything to do with Christmas or the preparations that seem to be dragging my joy level down.  Can you relate?

Over the past month I’ve been reading to “The Kid” at bedtime in order to get him settled down for sleep.  One night, in my frustration for him to settle down, I quickly chose the book, “Heaven is For Real” that I had downloaded several years ago on my iPhone.  The book is about a 4 year old boy who went to heaven after surviving a ruptured appendix which just about took his life.  His father narrates the book and tells of the boy’s experience while in heaven. To my wonder, ‘The Kid’ loved the book and it brought about some great conversations about heaven between us.  We were able to talk about his siblings that are in heaven waiting for us and how great it will be to go to heaven one day.  What a wonderful way to get my mind off the ‘temporal’ things that were frustrating me and focused more on eternal things.

We quickly finished that book and downloaded another book entitled, ‘Joni’.  My mom had read this book to our family back in the 1970’s when it was first released.  I was about the same age as ‘The Kid’ when she read it, so I figured he could handle the content.  The book, written by Joni Eareckson Tada, details her experience of becoming a quadriplegic after a diving accident that happened in 1966.  Some of the material was pretty heavy for him so I skipped paragraphs where appropriate.  However, the part I read the other night resonated with me.

Joni, who was a new Christ follower at the time of her accident, began to question God’s promises in the Bible as it related to her ‘new life existence’.  She questioned the promise in the book of James that says, ‘Consider it joy whenever you face trails of many kinds’.  How could she consider bedsores, laying in a Styker bed, not being able to do anything for herself for the rest of her life, pure joy?  Or the promise in Romans that says, ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him’.  What good was going to come out of being a helpless quadriplegic?

Since the book was written in the early 1970’s, I know the ‘rest of her story’.  God never chose to heal her – even though He easily could have!  Instead, for over 40+ years, she has had to rely on health care workers to bath her, change her catheters, brush her teeth, and comb her hair – you name it – she has to have it done for her – every single day of her life!  How has she been able to do this without growing bitter and angry at God?  She chose to focus on God’s promises to her throughout the Bible.  However, she will be the first to tell you that some days it is a battle to focus on those promises.  She gets frustrated and that’s when she has to make conscience choices to focus on those promises and to remember that this life is just temporary.

As for the ‘rest of her story’… she has gone on to write several books, paint and draw several artistic works, release a praise album, start a ministry called ‘Joni and Friends’, have a radio program, speak at several ministries and conferences, and so much more!  God has used her paralysis and her choice to focus on God’s promises.  However, she is looking forward to the day when God calls her to heaven because God has promised her a new body for eternity!  Until then, she will live with her temporal body here on earth.  I looked at the circumstances in my life.  I, too, find myself wondering about if those promises in James and Romans apply to me.  I find myself focusing on my circumstances and less on what I know is true and eternal.  Some days I just have a difficult time seeing how these promises apply to my life.

So, here’s my new thought pattern:

I don’t know how the circumstances in my life will turn out.  In fact, I wonder if or how any good can or will come of it.  However, I do know that God’s promises are true.  I’m choosing to retrain my thoughts to focus on God’s promises rather than spending all of my mental energy focusing on my circumstances. My goal is to choose to look at this circumstance as an opportunity for spiritual, emotional and personal growth instead of a joy crusher.  I choose to believe and claim the promises that God has given to me from the Bible.  Instead of saying, ‘I don’t like this!”, “This isn’t what I wanted!”, or ‘I can’t do this!”  I choose to say, ‘I don’t know why you choose me Lord for these circumstances but I do know what You have promised to me.  With Your help, I choose to focus on eternal promises and Your strength to help and guide me amidst these circumstances.”

So my friends, what is it that you are saying to yourself these days?  Is it something that crushes or dampens your joy level?  Maybe it’s time to change your focus and concentrate on speaking God’s truth in your life.  I’ll be praying for you as you make these changes, and I appreciate prayers for me as I change my focus.And with that my friends,

I wish you a JOYOUS Christmas.

 God’s promises from the Bible: