Life is hard. Sometimes life is really, really hard. Right now, I’m experiencing the really, really hard part of life. It’s an on-going struggle with good days and bad days. The trials we go through in life often make us wonder where God is in all of this. These are the times when we have to walk by faith because there’s nothing else to walk by….no light of our own circumstance to say we’re on the right path. I could focus on all the things that are going wrong in my life right now, but instead, I’m choosing joy.
Over and over again, the Bible tells us to rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord, rejoice in trials, rejoice in suffering, rejoice and be glad….rejoice! A cursory google search listed at least 66 verses dealing with some version of rejoicing. God knows our struggles and our trials, and He experienced our heartache and our pain when He came to earth as Jesus Christ. How can He possibly expect us to rejoice in difficult times?
Joy and happiness are wonderful feelings to experience, but are very different. Joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. It comes when you make peace with who you are, why you are and how you are, whereas happiness tends to be externally triggered and is based on other people, things, places, thoughts and events.
Rachel Fearnley, lifestyle mentor
When things are bad….when they’re really, really bad….it’s impossible to be happy. When we’re in the midst of trial, when we’re suffering, when we experience physical pain, when life just isn’t going our way, when God is answering every prayer “no” or “not yet,” it’s absolutely impossible to be happy. Happiness is an emotion based on our circumstances and our experience in the moment. It’s a response to something outside of ourselves.
Notice that the Bible doesn’t tell us to “be happy” though, it tells us to rejoice. Joy is different. Joy is a choice. Joy comes from a sense of satisfaction inside of you. It’s more stable than happiness. It’s longer lasting. Joy, according to the above quote, is internally cultivated. I would suggest that biblical joy is not based on our reaction to our circumstances at all, but rather founded on the unchanging character of God.
When things are bad….when they’re really, really bad….God is the same. God is still good. God still loves us. God is still for us. God is still working things for our good. God is the same. And because God is the same, we have the ability to look beyond our circumstance and our trials of the moment, and see a bigger picture. We have the ability to think positively in the midst of a negative situation. We have the ability to reframe what we’re seeing in light of an eternal perspective.
My kids are still in foster care. The judge is still ignoring any evidence that points in our favor. The court is still dragging this out through red tape and endless bureaucracy. My circumstances haven’t changed. But neither has my God. I still have the promise of victory in Christ. I still have the promise that God is working all of this out for my good. I still have the assurance that God is fighting this battle for me.
So I have a choice. I can focus on the things I don’t have and the things that don’t seem to be going right, OR I can focus on the positive things around me. Positive things don’t have to be big things. They just have to be positive. The fact that we had small progress at court that will finally allow my husband to visit with our sons is a positive thing. The fact that it could have come out much worse (termination of parental rights) but didn’t is a positive thing. The fact that it didn’t snow (I hate snow!) while we were out and about is a positive thing. The fact that we got everything on our checklist done while my husband was home (like finally putting away our Christmas tree) is a positive thing. The birthday dinner (my husband just turned 40!) we shared with friends after court is a positive thing. The time my husband and I spent together is a positive thing. And suddenly the small, positive things tip the scales away from the negative. My perspective has changed. My thoughts have changed. My mood is uplifted. And I am rejoicing!
Our thoughts have tremendous power over us. Research shows that positive thinking affects our health, our brain waves, and even the length of our lives. Article, after article, after article show the overriding benefits of positive thinking. Satan loves to bombard us with negative thinking. He knows if he can put our focus on the wrong thing, he’s got a foothold into our lives that allows him to wreck havoc on our health and our well-being. God’s Word tells us the way to combat this attack is with putting our focus on God.
When I’m going through trials, I can choose to focus on the circumstances of the trial itself and on the pain and discomfort it is causing in my life, or I can focus on the things that can come out of it. I can focus on the suffering, or I can focus on the patience that the suffering is producing in me. I can focus on the discomfort, or I can focus on the growth that discomfort is causing. I can focus on the struggle, or I can focus on the ministry opportunity that God might be building in my life because of this struggle. I can focus on the isolation and feelings of loneliness, or I can focus on the fact that God is with me through all of it. I can focus on how crappy life is, or I can focus on how good God is.
The choice is mine. So instead of focusing on all the garbage around me, I choose to focus on the small kernels of beauty and goodness and peace that happen all around me everyday. I choose joy!
A Beautiful Mess 