Day 5: JOY
5. Joy.
Throughout this past year I have found a way to experience a joyful life in a totally different way than I did before. Maybe in different way than I ever realized was possible; experiencing Joy in life even when life is really really hard. All throughout my life Joy has been a theme. Early on my mom would encourage to to find joy is Jesus and that happiness in all other things will always only be temporary. It's not at all that cancer entered my story and I changed who I am. I've grown in ways that without this life perspective of an overarching Joy in these circumstances, things may have looked different. Anxiety, stress, planning, so many of these things for me were joy stealers. I have learned to fight for Joy in everyday, to grab ahold of it and not let it go away. Joy is always there, it's not for one person and hidden from another, but we must CHOOSE JOY. "Count it all joy..." James 1:2. I think this will be my life theme, I want it to be anyway. I am learning, amidst the hard and seemingly impossible, to choose joy everyday. I have searched for ways to see God through true joy instead of emotional happiness. Joy is something all of us seek to fill our life with, and that empty place we all have can be filled temporarily with what makes us feel good, or permanently with the Joy that comes in knowing Christ. I am learning the difference in these and the contentment that comes with true joy. I have heard over and over again, everyone, including oncologists telling me that the mind can be the most powerful part of a cancer survivors success. Fighting anxiety and fear, depression and defeat, cancer can destroy. Perhaps prayerfully choosing Joy may just be what really gives me a fighting chance. Not just me, but all of us. Living each new day, rising to face hard and seemingly impossible, but to choose to see Joy in all circumstances.
Hey Soul? yeah, do I hear you —your circumstances & situation aren't easy right now.
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, “
The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy...
Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy...
Psalm 126
Throughout this past year I have found a way to experience a joyful life in a totally different way than I did before. Maybe in different way than I ever realized was possible; experiencing Joy in life even when life is really really hard. All throughout my life Joy has been a theme. Early on my mom would encourage to to find joy is Jesus and that happiness in all other things will always only be temporary. It's not at all that cancer entered my story and I changed who I am. I've grown in ways that without this life perspective of an overarching Joy in these circumstances, things may have looked different. Anxiety, stress, planning, so many of these things for me were joy stealers. I have learned to fight for Joy in everyday, to grab ahold of it and not let it go away. Joy is always there, it's not for one person and hidden from another, but we must CHOOSE JOY. "Count it all joy..." James 1:2. I think this will be my life theme, I want it to be anyway. I am learning, amidst the hard and seemingly impossible, to choose joy everyday. I have searched for ways to see God through true joy instead of emotional happiness. Joy is something all of us seek to fill our life with, and that empty place we all have can be filled temporarily with what makes us feel good, or permanently with the Joy that comes in knowing Christ. I am learning the difference in these and the contentment that comes with true joy. I have heard over and over again, everyone, including oncologists telling me that the mind can be the most powerful part of a cancer survivors success. Fighting anxiety and fear, depression and defeat, cancer can destroy. Perhaps prayerfully choosing Joy may just be what really gives me a fighting chance. Not just me, but all of us. Living each new day, rising to face hard and seemingly impossible, but to choose to see Joy in all circumstances.
"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11
"This is the day that I have made. Rejoice and be glad in it. Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life. Be careful not to complain about anything, even the weather, since I am the Author of your circumstances. The best way to handle unwanted situations is to thank Me for them. This act of faith frees you from resentment and frees Me to work My ways into the situation, so that good emerges from it.
To find Joy in this day, you must live within its boundaries. I knew what I was doing when I divided time into twenty-four-hour segments. I understand human frailty, and I know that you can bear the weight of only one day at a time. Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past. There is abundant Life in My Presence today." Jesus Calling
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
—Psalm 118:24
"Many people owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties." Charles H. Spurgeon
Hey Soul? yeah, do I hear you —your circumstances & situation aren't easy right now.
I get how you want to desperately change some things. Thing is, sometimes you can’t change circumstances — but maybe, you can change how you see.
And there’s ridiculous relief in that: Situations can’t make joy — but how we *see* can. We may not be able to *change a situation* today, but we can *change how we see*.
So that's quietly all today: see grace, see good, see God. "See things from His perspective.” Col.3:1MSG
-Ann Voscamp
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