When Life Hurts

Today I would like to share something close to my heart.  I pray it can be of some benefit to you just as it has been to me. 

I believe I can safely assume that many of the readers of this blog have dealt with some pretty deep pain and sorrow.  You have walked through some deep valleys and been lead down some agonizingly dark paths.  Recently I read some very unique thoughts on this subject and I would like to share them with you in hopes that you will discover in them the encouragement I have found.

I, like so many others, have questioned why God would allow the heavy burden of cancer and amputation to fall into my husband’s life.  He is so good and upright.  He has lived a Godly and fully submissive life.  He doesn’t deserve such a trial! 

I have wanted so much to say it’s not fair. 

Then other times I remember other Godly men and women who have also been allowed to face suffering or hardship, and I say, well, why NOT us?  We haven’t anything on those folks.  Why should God spare us when He asked them to deal with such tragedy? 

The “why” questions of life very rarely get answers.

But I read this recently and if you’ll hang on tight with me, I think you’ll find it interesting.  It is from Ann Voskamp’s book entitled One Thousand Gifts.  I’m not very far into it, but it is fascinating! 

This is in response to a situation where the author’s husband’s brother and sister-in-law lost two baby boys to the same genetic disease within two years’ time…one of them at 4 months and one at 5 months of age.

At one point the author says to her brother-in-law, “If it were up to me…I’d write this story differently.”

She then tells us “I regret the words as soon as they leave me.  They seem so un-Christian, so unaccepting—so No, God! I wish I could take them back, comb out their tangled madness, dress them in their calm Sunday best.  But there they are…raw and real…”

Then the brother-in-law explains the perspective he maintains.  “I don’t know why that all happened…But do I have to? Who knows? I don’t mention it often, but sometimes I think of that story in the Old Testament…when God gave King Hezekiah fifteen more years of life…Because he prayed for it…But if Hezekiah had died when God first intended, Manasseh would never have been born. And what does the Bible say about Manasseh? Something to the effect that Manasseh had led the Israelites to do even more evil than all the heathen nations around Israel.  Think of all the evil that could have been avoided if Hezekiah had died earlier, before Manasseh was born.  I am not saying anything, either way, about anything…Just that maybe…maybe you don’t want to change the story, because you don’t know what a different ending holds.”

“Maybe,” he says, “I guess…it’s accepting there are things we simply don’t understand.  But He does.”

Wow.  Gulp.  That’s a beautiful picture of belief in an all-wise, all-knowing, loving God…of confidence that He truly does know what is best for each of us! 

That’s my anchor in the storm.  Knowing that I may never understand but HE does.  And I can trust Him.

Do this with me, won’t you?  Picture in your mind’s eye this scenario...you are facing a large black sheet of paper, behind which is a beautiful lamp glowing with soft light.  If this piece of black paper can represent for a moment our life’s backdrop, then it might also be that punching a hole in that paper could represent a loss…a tragedy of some sort that rips deep into our souls.  As you mentally punch holes and make rips in the paper to represent the deep and painful losses you have faced, let me share with you another word picture Ann paints in her book:

“I wonder too…if the rent in the canvas of our life backdrop, the losses that puncture our world, our own emptiness, might actually become places to see.

“To see through to God.

“That which tears open our souls, those holes that splatter our sight, may actually become the thin, open places to see through the mess of this place to the heart-aching beauty beyond.  To Him.  To the God whom we endlessly crave. 

“Maybe so.”

Can you see it??? Can you see the light shining so brightly through the ripped and jagged places in our lives??  Have you seen God work in or around you through your tragic moments?  Have you seen God’s grace and power and experienced His precious peace in time of deep trial?  Does this change your perspective on those very trials?  

May we see our holes as “seeing-through-to-God-places” and may our anchors hold fast to Jesus, the only Rock worthy of our trust...

May God bless, keep, and encourage each one of you!

“It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

(Lamentations 3:22-26)

Learning to rest in God's wisdom and love,

 

 

Four questions

Am I the only one who struggles with my mouth totally running ahead of my brain?  The only one who feels like yelling to the world that you’d really rather NOT be a grown-up but instead throw a monster sized tantrum?  The only one who when your teen-aged daughter has a melt-down, you join her?  Yeah, well, I’m an expert at all of the above.  I’ve really been working on some things, though, as hard as it has been, and I thought I’d share with you all a bit of what I’ve recently learned. 

Colossians 4:6 has me under conviction currently. 

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

Wow.  When I’m in all-about-me-I-don’t-wanna-be-a-grown-up-melt-down mode, does my speech measure up to this standard????  Ouch.  More importantly, what’s going through my heart and mind?  If we nurse them long enough, thoughts and feelings inevitably weasel their way into words…words we eventually come to regret.

I have yet to conquer the waves of crazy feelings that come crashing over me at times, but I have been begging and pleading with the Lord to help me watch my words…to help me think through the implications of what I’m saying...to help me stick with facts instead of letting feelings cloud my judgment.  All of these add up to a monumental task that is more challenging than anything else I’m facing.  And being a homeschooling mom of four and the wife of a cancer fighter, that is saying a lot.  But I mean it.  The little foxes spoil the vines, you know…and so it is in my case.  When I’m off my game and not watching, praying, reading the Word, or examining my heart, Satan attacks.  And sometimes it’s a little while before I realize what is going on.  Sometimes I don’t catch it until my emotions are fully engaged and it is difficult to sort out the facts. The battle can be incredibly difficult to fight, but God is faithful.  He WILL provide the strength if we are willing to follow His principles laid out for us in His Word.

This past week, I read a blog post written by Megan Rice on Mom Life Today.  I have so appreciated this blog!  Her article is specifically geared toward helping our kids work through their emotional melt-down moments, but I’ve snagged these four questions for use in my own journey. 

1.       What are you feeling?

2.       What caused you to feel this way?

3.       What is the truth about this situation?

4.       What is a good response to this situation?

I’ve noticed that if I pinpoint my emotions and give them a name, they shrink dramatically. 

Secondly, if I look for the cause of the emotion, I usually find that the emotions I’m feeling are way out of proportion to the actual event that caused them to flare up. Sometimes this second step alone can take the wind out of the sails of the craziness haunting me.

My best bet though, is number three.  What is the truth?  First, what is God’s truth about His love for me?  What is God’s truth about who I am? If I take a hard look at the persons involved, can I see through the haze of what Satan is tossing my way and remember the truth about the relationship?  If it involves my husband, it may feel as though he has done something insensitive or hurtful, but if everything else in our relationship points to his caring for me by working hard, by providing for the family, by telling me he loves me, by his faithfulness in all ways…how CAN I really believe him anything but what he says he is?  And all of my responses to anything he does that may SEEM insensitive need to be filtered through that truth. The same principle can be applied in every relationship.  I need to also look at the truth in my own actions.  Did I do my best in every aspect?  Did I please the Lord?  If so, no matter what Satan has to throw my way, it shouldn’t stick.  If I have not, maybe the beginning of clearing up the emotional haze would be to do some apologizing.  That can be difficult, but it can also cut the duration of a crazy period in half!

In determining the truth about a situation and diffusing some of the emotion from the scenario, we can then come closer to determining what our response to the situation should be – based on Scripture…not on our own misguided desires or tendencies.  1 Corinthians 13 comes quickly to mind.  Again, ouch.

Please remember that this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a process I have come anywhere NEAR perfecting. I’m totally in the learning stages with all of this.  But I figured maybe some accountability could come from sharing this with you all.  And maybe, just maybe it would be of some help to one of you. 

For my own benefit, I took the above questions and pared them down to one word each and wrote them on my bathroom mirror…along with some of my other favorite reminders…yeah, I have a large bathroom mirror!  This is my list:

1.       Feeling?

2.       Cause?

3.       Truth?

4.       Response?

Not that you couldn’t have come up with that yourselves (grin). Anyway, my experience has shown me that I need short and sweet reminders for crisis moments.  I can’t read a whole paragraph or digest a chapter in a book when I’m over-the-top emotional, so this is designed to quickly get my brain back on track and hope my emotions quickly follow! 

These verses have been my daily prayer for the past few weeks...may my heart be pure and my actions pleasing to the Heavenly Father...

“Have mercy upon my, O God, according to thy lovingkindness…

                Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts…

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,

                Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me…

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

~Selections from Psalm 51

The New Year begins...

Happy New Year!!!

 

 

It’s the start of a new week, a new year.  We have a clean slate, a chance to begin anew, a chance to look ahead…and view with excitement the opportunities that lie before us…and view with some measure of dread the unknowns…

 

Yes, the unknowns.  I know that in all lives, some trouble will fall, but in the lives of some of the dear hearts reading this post, the past year has held much trouble, much heartache, and much sorrow. You have been beaten up emotionally and you wonder if healing will ever come.  Or your heart aches from a loss that has taken your breath away…for weeks or months…And maybe you enter this new year with much trepidation.  Maybe you lack the energy to face the prospect of the long days stretching before you.

 

Friend, take heart.  God is NOT dead!  God has NOT abandoned you!  He still loves and is wildly crazy about you! 

 

Someone asked recently in a Facebook post for some feedback on how others faced life disappointments such as unwanted singleness, a young parent with life-threatening cancer, or a frustrating outcome in one's career.  Many good answers were posted, too many to share here, but I typed the following thoughts (now edited) as my first response:

 

“I believe God allows us to experience some disappointing situations to keep us looking to Him – for if we were happy here, what gain would heaven be to us? Why would we want to keep striving toward that goal? God wants to be the answer to our every need, and we as humans don’t automatically see our need for Him when left on our own.”

 

I am no theologian.  I don’t claim any special wisdom.  But I will say I speak from some experience.  I am in the process of learning this lesson.  It has been a long, hard journey so far, and it’s not over.  Experiencing the life changes that come with a loved one battling cancer has caused major perspective adjustments, to say the least.

 

One of the major life lessons God has been so patiently urging me to learn is this lesson that HE wants to be THE answer for my every need. He longs for me to look to Him for strength for every minute of every hour.  He wants me to take my hurting heart to Him…to share those deep emotional needs with Him and allow His balm of mercy and grace to sooth and comfort like no human can.  He alone can fill the hole in my heart that I often look to others to fill.  My husband is not capable of filling this need…my children don’t want to even try…my best friends may feel too much pressure from me and may back away if I become too dependent on them.

 

Friends, look up!  God is ever ready to meet our needs, to hold us up when we feel unsteady, to bring us joy when all we feel is despair! 

 

But we have to let Him.

 

Are you facing the new year with some trepidation? Has the past year been something more difficult than you had bargained for?  Are there unknowns ahead that have your gut twisting and your heart pounding?  If not, this new year is wide open – full of opportunities for you to touch lives for Christ and make memories to last a life-time.  If so, what about taking the following Scriptures and songs to heart? Meditate on them, listen to and worship with them…and let the love, grace, strength, and soothing balm of the presence of the Holy Spirit fill the hurt places and calm the troubled waters of your soul.  Release the regrets of the past to His forgiveness, the stresses of the day into His capable hands, and the unknowns of the future into His almighty wisdom.  Rest, be renewed, and re-energized…for this new year is a chance!  A chance to experience God in new ways…a chance to learn just how much He cares for you…a chance to trust and see that trust rewarded with new levels of grace and strength for every new trial…

 

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

 

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.  The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.  The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Psalm 145: 8, 9, 14, 18

 

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee:

he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22

 

 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;

and through the rivers,

they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,

thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Isaiah 43:2

 

What a Precious Friend Is He   Lyrics   Listen

Great is Thy Faithfulness  Lyrics  Listen

He Giveth More Strength Lyrics Listen
(notice the little-known third verse...it's a favorite of mine!)

I’m Gonna Make It  Listen

Dear hearts, be encouraged!  God has your very best in mind…He loves you so much!  He wants you to be heavenly minded and Him-focused….relaxed and refreshed by trusting fully in His control…joyful and serene because you have experienced His care…

Maybe you'd like to share a promise you are claiming for 2013!  We'd love to hear from you!

 

Remembering that "life isn't fair, but God is faithful,"

 

 

Show a Little Kindness!

Fruit of the Spirit Series - part 5

 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience),

gentleness (kindness)..." Galatians 5:22

 

 

Here’s an experiment for you to try…maybe with your kids.  Mix one to one and a half cups cornstarch with one cup of warm water, preferably in a wide and shallow container.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the water, and then let it sit for a few minutes.  Pour any standing water off the top. 

Then the fun begins!  First, have a child hit the cornstarch mixture in order to try and move it.  He will quickly find it feels as hard as a rock!  (Be prepared for a bit of splattering to occur!)

Then instruct the child to take a finger or two and gently dig down into the cornstarch and try to scoop it up.  He will find, surprisingly, that it can be done! 

I have used this object lesson to visualize to children the vast advantage a kind response has over a sharp one.  I emphasized that there is a CHOICE we make in our treatment of others.  We talked about the story of David and Mephibosheth found in 2 Samuel 9:1-13 and how David’s gentle goodness to Jonathan’s son made such a difference in that young man’s life!

Then we looked at the verses in Philippians 2 (The Message) that read, “Don’t push your way to the front…put yourself aside and help others get ahead….Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

And this one from 1 Peter (The Message) – “Be agreeable, by sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble…bless – that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.”

Bananas are what I might call a “gentle” fruit…no sharpness or bite, not even crispy or crunchy.  They gently add their flavor to the dishes in which they are found without boldly proclaiming their presence. 

They add to without taking from.  Gentleness or kindness works in much the same manner. 

God in His great mercy is so wonderfully kind to each of us - Psalm 117:2 reminds us of this fact: “For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.”

That kindness is meant to be passed on and not kept to ourselves. 

Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up…”

What can we take away from this lesson?  How can we apply this principle of gentleness and kindness to our own lives?  Maybe taking time to think back to some scenarios we've faced where we did not experience kindness will help us visualize some opportunities we might have to express kindness to others…sometimes experience is the very best teacher. 

True kindness comes from a heart yearning to please God.  It pours forth from a heart that is grateful to a loving God for the infinite kindnesses He has shown.

It is not a performance for man’s approval. 

It is not to be granted in order to assure “what goes around comes around.”

It is not an option for a Christian.  It IS a command.  There are also no exceptions granted. 

Hmmmm….more to process.  More to learn.  More to practice.

Dear Lord, please open my heart and mind to Your truths for me.  Help me to incorporate these principles into my daily life.  Please teach me to be more like You as I serve my husband, my children and my world each and every day.  Let the ones around me who know me best see Your light shining through my eyes, hear Your voice in my words, feel Your touch through my hands…

Experiencing daily the kindness of the Father,

Shawna

Have Patience

Fruit of the Spirit Series – part 4

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…”  Galatians 5:22-23



Did you know that a pineapple plant only produces one fruit per year?  Did you know that the fruit actually takes up to two years to reach complete maturity?  Because of that, we rarely actually see a truly fully-grown pineapple.  

Patience.  It’s something that is in short supply in our culture today.  We are granted instantaneous results to every Google search, instant communication through texting, messaging, or email; we cook instantly with microwavable entrees and steamer vegetable bags, credit cards provide us with instant buying power, with digital photography we have prints within minutes instead of days, and the list goes on…

When do we ever really have to wait for anything?

We think that if we sit any longer than 32.5 seconds at a red light that it’s too slow…we drum our fingers with impatience in the drive –through line, and get grouchy with the receptionist at the doctor’s office if we have to sit still for more than a few minutes.  Oh, and our kids?  Well, they REALLY try our patience!!!  Why can't they EVER learn??

Then we talk to God. We ask, and we expect answers.  Now. Well, if you really want the truth, we would have rather had those answers yesterday.  Why doesn’t God get His timetable matched up with our own?  Then He’d know just how important it is that He what we want and with lightning speed, if you please!  

Patience is defined by the dictionary as follows: 1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like; and 2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.

Patience.  We often think of it in light of the second definition.  But what about the first one?  That’s the one I seem to struggle with the most.  I, like many Christians, know in my head that I SHOULD “glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Romans 5:3,4), but that is WAY easier said than done.  I have the malady common to man of chafing under trials and tribulations.  I don’t LIKE hard things.  I don’t ENJOY the parts of life that are working to develop my character.  But I have to remember that God knows exactly what I need.  He happens to desire my betterment….His ultimate desire for each of us is that we become as much like Him as is humanly possible.  And He instructs us to be patient.

James 5:8 “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

We are to walk “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

Colossians 3:12-13 says that we are to “put on therefore, as the elect of God…kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.”

Being patient is hard. Especially when we are waiting on God to move in a situation that is near and dear to our hearts.  But God is so incredibly patient with us.

Exodus 34:6 reminds us that the Lord is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” Psalm 86:5 states that, “Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.”

Abraham had to be extremely patient.  His promise from God came many long years before its fulfillment.  But he trusted.  And waited. 

Joseph believed God had something in mind for him as well, but again, that “something” didn’t come along until he had waited through some seriously disheartening and frustrating experiences.  More than once, he could have claimed God had abandoned him.  But he didn’t.  He patiently waited for God’s timing and all was well in the end. 

Not always is the end what or when we think it should be. Can we still wait with trusting patience?  Can we still believe that God loves us when it’s years before our unsaved loved one makes any move toward softening?  Can we wait for God’s plan to work out in our lives when it means watching a child waste away with a life-threatening disease?  When God doesn’t make sense, can we still wait with patience?  He asks us to.  He asks us to trust and to wait.  And knowing just how much He loves us, how much He longs to help us, why is it so hard?  I’m not sure, but I’m in the middle of learning about this myself. Your prayers are coveted and greatly appreciated. 

God bless you all as you enter the busy week ahead.   Remember God knows, loves you beyond what you can imagine, and He’ll be with you every step of the way.   

Doing my best to patiently wait for God to reveal His plan,

Shawna

Peace Like a River

Fruit of the Spirit Series - part 3

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..." Galatians 5:22

Peace.  Just the mention of the word brings with it a calming sensation….dreams of a beautiful beach scene where no screaming children threaten our serenity, where no demands place undue stress on our emotions, where no one around us is hurting and all is right with the world…

Jesus said He would give us peace.  He also spoke peace to a raging storm.  Then Romans tells us that we are to live peaceably with all men.  And we cannot ignore the admonitions to “hold your peace” mentioned throughout Scripture.  Oh, and then there is the verse I’ll bet you didn’t know was in there.  It’s in Joshua 10:21 and it says this… “And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.”  It seems to me that in this situation, part of keeping the peace meant keeping one’s mouth shut!    So with all of these references to peace in mind, just what exactly is peace??  And how do we incorporate it and its benefits into our own lives?

Peace.  It’s a deep-seated, calm assurance of soul that only God can give…that is the result of trust in Him and a firm belief that He IS IN CONTROL…that can say, “whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.” 

 

      When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

               When sorrows like sea billows roll;

               Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

               It is well, it is well with my soul.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Peace.  It’s a personal knowledge of Jesus’s saving and sanctifying grace and the ability to sing, “It is well, it is well with my soul!”

     
                My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
               My sin, not in part but the whole,
               Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
               Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Peace.  It’s the experiential knowledge that God hears and answers our heartfelt prayers.

I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day, And His glory is flooding my soul!

             Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
           Coming down from the Father above!
           Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
           In fathomless billows of love!

“The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:26).

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). 

Peace.  It’s knowing when to keep opinions to one’s self or even when to keep one’s mouth shut in order to foster a sweet spirit and an atmosphere of harmony and love.  It’s doing one’s best to live with no regrets…no bitterness…no grudges…between ourselves and our fellowman. Only if we are experiencing the peace of God in our hearts can we successfully live in peace as the Scriptures instruct.

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28). 

“And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves” (1Thessalonians 5:13).

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

“When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).

I’m not sure there is much more to be said on the subject.  And you, dear reader, are probably glad because it would seem this devotional has gone on long enough!    But before you go, maybe you’ll read just one more verse…

 “The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11).

Peace to you and yours today,

 

The Joy of the Lord IS My Strength

The Joy of the Lord IS My Strength!
Fruit of the Spirit Series - part 2

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…” Galatians 5:22

I love oranges.  I especially love peeling the thick aromatic coat off an extra-large juicy one…smack dab in the middle of a dreary, bitterly cold winter’s day.  What an amazing pop of color and flavor that orange brings into the gloomy atmosphere!   What a bright spot in the midst of a dark time!  And that’s EXACTLY what I think of when I think of JOY! 

Habakkuk 3:18 boldly proclaims, “Yet I will REJOICE in the LORD, I will JOY in the God of my salvation.”  In Psalm 30, verse 5, we read that “…weeping may endure for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning.”  What a blessed reminder and promise that verse is!

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life,” the Psalmist again states. “In thy presence is fullness of JOY; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). 

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for JOY, all ye that are upright in heart” (Psalm 32:11).

And we cannot forget this very familiar verse: “For the JOY of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Dictionary.com defines JOY as follows:

1.       The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.

2.       A deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment.

My favorite definition has to be number two.  Wouldn’t you agree?  I believe that one succinctly describes the joy referred to in the above Scriptures.  I believe that’s the very kind of joy meant in the Fruits of the Spirit list.  It’s the kind that’s above and beyond any circumstances.  It’s the kind that is NOT affected by a lack of “something exceptionally good or satisfying.”  It’s a deep down belief that is God really is Who He says He is.  We have nothing to fear – nothing to worry about! 

It is also sometimes a tad bit difficult to maintain.  Especially for those of us who are “Eeyores” by nature.

On the days when housework becomes drudgery, can we sing (and mean it!) “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart”?

When our husband loses his job, can we sing with gusto and a smile, “Real joy is mine no matter if the teardrops start”?

When we desperately need some “me” time and our youngest munchkin decides to…well, regurgitate all over our new couch, do the words of “J-O-Y, J-O-Y, this is what it means:  Jesus first and yourself last and others in between” come flooding into our minds?

What about when a close loved one receives the kind of news we all secretly dread – “you have cancer” – is joy the first emotion we feel? 

Nope.  At least not for me.  We are human, aren’t we?  But we are ALSO commanded to be joyful.  IN SPITE of the circumstances.  My personal belief is that being a grown up is highly overrated, but at this point I guess I have no choice.  My choices are limited to how I deal with being that grown up. 

And the most important one of those choices is deciding to trust in my all-knowing, ever faithful, MOST capable Heavenly Father…and that trust brings with it a deep, all encompassing, JOY!!!  Joy that brings that brightness of trust in our Father’s goodness!  Joy that gives us the strength to face another day, another hour, another minute.  Joy that puts a smile on our faces when things look gloomy to those around us…that gives us that Pollyanna-like ability to look for the best in EVERY situation. 

Even if that “best” is simply the fact that God knows and is fully on our side. 

Don’t get me wrong.  This JOY that the Scripture speaks of does not refer to hilarity.  It doesn’t even always mean there’s a smile on your face. 

But what it does mean is this: “A deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment.” 

It’s a peaceful confidence that if THIS is where God wants me, He WILL be with me and I will NOT be happy anywhere other than right here in the center of God’s will!  I WILL rejoice in the Lord and in the knowledge that He loves me!  I WILL rest in the peace only God gives! 
Then, with HIS help, I can sincerely exhibit that “…joy, real joy, wonderful joy!"

Learning that true joy brings strength,

Shawna