I Choose Joy
I have learned that life is hard. Really hard sometimes. Like curl up in a ball and cry your eyes out hard. Sometimes the hurdles seem too high, the waves of heartbreak too strong. I have also learned that when this happens, it is easy to give in to “woe-is-me” talk and to begin living within a protective shell that turns your passion into numbness, your color into grey.
But I don’t want to live numb. Grey all by itself is boring. I don’t want to settle for anything less than the vibrant, color-filled adventure that God has intended for me.
Joy doesn’t just happen. We must choose joy. And not just once, but again, and again, and again.
Joy is a choice. It’s not dictated by circumstance or happy-ever-afters. It isn’t dependent on life going my way or people treating me with love. Joy is chosen despite whatever difficult circumstances, or people, I find myself in the midst of.
So what does this look like in everyday life?
I am reminded of the passage in Habbakkuk 3.
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”
This means that even when basic needs and feelings of security are left unmet, we can choose joy! Why? Because God makes it possible! He gives us the strength to choose joy when everything within us is crying to give up. He makes us able to navigate the difficult times without the fear of slipping. He is in control of everything, and He is in control of my situation.
Try it. Fill in the blanks with whatever is difficult in your life right now.
So when ____________________happens, I will choose joy!
When ________________________happens, I will choose joy!
And when ____________________happens, I will keep. choosing. joy!
James wrote that when troubles come we can consider it an opportunity for great joy. This doesn’t mean that we are happy about whatever we filled in the blank with above, but we are thankful that we can trust God who is more than able to work all things together for His glory! We are thankful that choosing joy despite the “fill-in-the-blanks” is possible! And that in choosing joy, we grow!
The joy is not the night, but the hope we experience during the night as we wait for morning! Did you know that the beautiful notes of the songbird are learned while in the dark? An intriguing thought!
And what I think is the really beautiful thing about choosing joy is that it not only affects you, but it influences others too! Paul and Silas were unjustly beaten and chained, sitting in a jail cell. And what did they do? They sang! They chose joy! They worshiped God despite their unjoyful circumstances. They weren’t ignoring their difficult circumstances, or pretending that they didn’t exist, but they still sang. This influenced all who knew of their situation, and yet heard them choose to sing. And at the end of the night, God was glorified! Oh how I want to be a blessing like this to others who know my difficult challenges, yet see me choose joy. And not because I’m something special, but because I believe in and trust a God who is!
This is what I want for my life. That I choose joy even when life is really hard. That when I feel discouraged and want to give in to despair, that I dig in my heels and say, “Not this time! I am choosing joy!”
Joy.
