Joy

This month there are thoughts of gratitude in the air. Thankfulness is a running theme.
It's a good thing.

I heard a speaker this week state that the downside of that is comparisons are also running rampant.
"I am thankful because I am not suffering, sick, broke, etc.... like some are".
Or those who read the thankful lines may then feel their lives do not match up to Suzy, whose husband is apparently the "best, most amazing, model of perfection". (Insert raised eyebrow on deadpan face)

While appreciating what we have is vital, appreciating it because it is not one thing or another is slippery ground.
I am a coddled baby at this moment, with a life full of amazing blessings but what if that changes tomorrow?

Would I like Corrie Ten Boom's sister find thankfulness for the fleas in my concentration camp cell? She did. Corrie then found out later those fleas kept the guards from their cell so they were able to read the bible and share the gospel with all the women crowded with them.

Thankfulness and ultimately Joy are not to be logical things- as the world would see them.
They are not to be based on what we can sense with our 5 senses.

Those 5 senses can expand our joy but not create it.

Joy comes from knowing God, from understanding what the future holds for us who love Him and from a deep belief that there is so much more to life than what is on the surface.

I have a very real problem doing this. I want certain outcomes and I cannot imagine why those outcomes would into be exactly what God would want too.

But more than those outcomes, I want joy. I want to be joyful to everyone around me. I want to be that face that lights up the darkest day. So this week I admitted to God I am unable to choose joy. I am without the strength to rustle up joy in my moments of disappointment (which sadly are daily).
I asked Him to come in and live Joy in me.

And as I prayed it I felt Joy, flowing like warm honey into my mind. I felt peace that in my mind made no logical sense, seeping in.

When you know you are leaving for Disney tomorrow does the toaster breaking ruin your day? How much more so do we who are heaven bound need to look ahead for the Joy to face today?

Dear Lord,
This world is not my home, I am only passing through but I pray the direction I am going will lead others to YOU.