Choose Joy
We all have our own passions, things that can get a great emotional
response from us. For me, one is politics and government. I’ve studied it. I’ve
participated in it. I’ve watched other people participate in it. I like the
energy and I especially like it when it works the right way.
The crazy thing about our passions is that they tend to have the
power to either stress us out or get us REALLY excited. Politics/Government,
for me, is no different.
A few weeks ago I was watching a quite historical moment in
Virginia. They were literally drawing names out of a hat to see who would be
the next representative. Like, they literally had little pieces of paper in a
bag and were pulling out the name of a new legislator. Considering the political
climate and the current political agendas that those in power are trying to
achieve, in order to prevent a lot of negative legislation, it would’ve been
nice to have one particular candidate in that position.
Welp. That didn’t happen.
The sheer anger and defeat of the passionate individuals who had invested so much in the losing candidate’s campaign was evident. It was YET another “L.”
I stood there watching the screen, seeing how terribly bothered
some people were. I decided that I didn’t want to be one to sulk in that. Honestly,
there were a million other reasons in the world to be mad, and I wasn’t about
to make a “luck of the draw” one of them.
It made me think: How many of us vest ourselves in
something, and then get terribly disturbed…or even downright depressed...when
things don’t go as we think they should go?
How do we react to apparently
“bad” situations? Do we sulk or do we
intentionally choose joy?
The fact of the matter is, we will all experience really
tough circumstances, but how we react to those circumstances will reveal our spiritual
maturity.
Hebrews 12:2 gives a great example of how Jesus
intentionally chose joy. The scripture says that for the JOY set before him,
Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now sitting at the right
hand of God. One version even says for the “joy that was his” he
endured the cross, ignored the shame and now sits at the right hand of God.
Jesus knew what was before him. He knew that the pain and sufferings
of the moment (or consecutive moments) wouldn’t pale in comparison to the
AMAZINGNESS that was to come. With that in mind, he INTENTIONALLY chose joy. He
felt the shame. He endured the cross….all the while PURPOSEFULLY focusing on
JOY.
Now, I know you’re probyably thinking: “Well, that’s cool and
all…but that was Jesus. I ain Jesus and I got real stuff happening that I have
to deal with.” As crazy as it sounds, if you believe in Jesus, then you have to
believe that the same power that allowed him to intentionally choose joy is the
same power the resides within you.
A verse in Nehemiah LITERALLY says that the Joy of the LORD
is our strength. We have that same power, y’all. We can look dead in the face
of adversity and COUNT IT ALLLLL JOY.
How freakin’ exciting is that?!?!
I don’t have to choose shame. I don’t have to choose doubt.
I don’t have to choose hurt. I can bask in the strength that is the joy of the
Lord. I can speak against depressive thoughts that go directly against what God
has already spoken to me. I can give all of my cares to the one who cares for
me and, in exchange, cloak myself in His precious gift of Joy.
No MATTER what...I can PURPOSEFULLY, INTENTIONALLY, and MOST
EMPHATICALLY choose JOY!
How much better would our lives be if we, despite everything
else, chose joy? I can imagine that we wouldn’t be as stressed out…at the very
least we’d experience less acne breakouts….which I’m allllll the way here for!
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Having a tough time choosing joy? God’s word is the best
medicine! There’s so many scriptures you can turn to. Try meditating on these scriptures.
Jeremiah 31:3
2 Corinthians 10:5
Hebrews 12:2
James 1:2
Nehemiah 8:10
Romans 8:18
1 Peter 5:7
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