This answer seemed insufficient to me, but maybe my friend was just being cryptic. She tends to do that when she wants me to find my own answers, instead of stealing hers. :)
And that is where this journey begins-a question about blogging, and just enough curiosity to want to try it. A place to put all of my thoughts, ideas, questions, (hopefully) insights, and life.
Maybe not for the world to see, but just for a select few, whoever you are.
So first, a little bit about me. I recently graduated from college as an education major, and I'm seeking to find out where the Lord wants to put me. I know how to cook a total of 5 things, one of them being oatmeal (yay!) and I enjoy crocheting and knitting. I love photographing sunsets, soulful worship music, and I'm an introverted extrovert, (more on that in later posts). I love to stargaze, and just to watch the sky in general, and I've been known to go to some pretty crazy places to get a good picture. Anyways, onto the name of this blog...
The choice to be Joyful isn't something I thought about until this year. I can be a complainer, but I try to make positivity (spellcheck says that's not a word, but I'm almost certain it is) a staple in my life. Sometimes I do this better than other times.
But my friend (you know, the one that likes to get me to think for myself, we'll call her Be), made a good point one night while we were stargazing (because, if you've ever been to North Dakota, you'll know its probably one of the best places in the world to stargaze).
"You don't always feel Joyful, it has to be a choice you make."
This hit me strangely when I first heard it.
"How can you choose to be Joyful? Isn't Joy a feeling, an emotion?"
"What about "The Joy of the Lord is my Strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). We don't always feel the Lord's Joy, or express it..."
This conversation, like many others we've had, made me reconsider. Joy must not be solely an emotion, because if it was, the minute we didn't feel Joyful, the strength from the Lord would be gone, and that's not the case.
Part of Joy is being positive and thankful. There is always something to be thankful for, something to revel in. If you can't find anything in your own life, look to other people's lives, and how the Lord is working there. Just look outside your window, the sky is beautiful, even when it's rainy, and there are a million things to be excited about in God's creation!
SO...Long story long, this is my choice to be Joyful, to be filled with His Joy, and allow Him to work in my heart and in my life. Joy despite the circumstances is a choice one makes every day.
Father, please give me a heart of your everlasting Joy, give me your strengthening Joy, and help me to seek you every day. Amen
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment