Joy and Thanksgiving

It’s sad to think that I lived many years of my life on the pessimistic edge. It’s very easy for me, as it is for many of us, to let my circumstances dictate my inner condition. Over the past couple of months, the topics of joy and thankfulness keep surfacing in many different forms. I believe my Lord wants to show me a thing or two.

It’s easy to let my situations get the best of me. When my physical condition and health are not improving and I see no breakthrough, I am discouraged. When someone wrongs me, and I feel rejected it’s easy to get angry and depressed. It’s easy to lose hope thinking that everything good is distant and not available to me. But reality is, ALL that is good, trustworthy, and whole is right in front of me. The Maker of the universe takes up residence in me!  He was rejected so that I wouldn’t have to be. 

He is working all things for good- all is well.

It’s hard to see if we are zoned in on what the world says about our circumstance. We must have eyes to see and ears to hear! I have been reading the book One Thousand Gifts where Ann Voscamp states, “But the secret to joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is.” It’s hard to see God in my family’s health conditions. It’s difficult to recognize Him in relationships that have caused so much pain. Where is He in the job that you hate? I am discovering that living a life full of thanksgiving, even in the smallest things, is a beautiful, if not the best form of worship to the Lord. It brings everything back into perspective. Whispering a simple, “I trust You” brings my mind and thoughts back into alignment with His. He is in EVERYTHING.

My job is not “my thing.” I never look forward to going, but I know He has placed me there. I know He wants me to keep persevering, even when I can’t see any fruit.  Although I may be unhappy, I can possess joy because I can rest in the fact that something good is coming of it. Old things are being chipped away, I’m being put through the fire, and my character is being built. Ann Voscamp also states, “Only self can kill joy….The demanding of my own will is the singular force that smothers out joy –nothing else.” I must agree with her. I can ALWAYS find a reason to be thankful. To choose joy- it is not an easy task, because our human emotions well up and want to smother out our deep inner knowing that God is in control. Hope seemingly lost in relationships is really not lost hope at all, but an opportunity for Him to show me that He has someone picked out for me who will surpass all my wildest dreams. His plans are to prosper and not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. I must condition my mind to continually put on the fact of God instead of picking up the lie of the enemy.

Each day truly is a gift. There is no wasted time with our Lord. Today is not a “filler” day. He is in every moment, every detail, orchestrating everything to show me that He loves me. Even the trials are blessings.

One last quote from Voscamp:

"True saints know that the place where all the joy comes from is far deeper than that of feelings; joy comes from the place of the very presence of God. Joy is God and God is joy and joy doesn’t negate all other emotions –joy transcends all other emotions. Though my marriage tree may not bud and though my crop of children may fail and my work produce little yield, though there is no money in the bank and no dream left in the heart, though others may choose different ways to live their one life, till my last heaving breath, I will fight to the death for this: “I will take joy” (Habakkuk 3:18 ESV)."

I will take joy.