Here we are the week after the holidays have been celebrated, and perhaps much of the putting away and finishing off of all the food and decor is coming to an end for many of us.
As daughters of the King of Kings, we may do lots of different activities which keep us full and busy through the holiday season, but we also love and cherish what we are actually celebrating. We do not forget the season is about our Savior, Jesus; how He came into our world, why He came this particular way, what His appearance points to---His death and ressurection---and how this means everything to us.
You may be reading this realizing that the season went by way too fast for you to get everything accomplished and you never really did slow down to contemplate the "what and whys" of Jesus. The whole thing is over and now you are all consumed with the aftermath, which is all about cleaning up. Everyone else got to be happy and joyful, but you somehow missed it.
Don't despair! The holidays are over, but you really don't need them to be happy. It isn't the time of year, the decorations, the gifts, the food, the people. You can be happy, joyful, and content any time, anywhere. Even when among chaos you can experience JOY.
Chaos is sometimes the norm in life so don't wait for it to leave before you can relax and be happy. To remind yourself of this you need to make a sign for what reality actually is:
"The only thing normal around here is a setting on the dryer"
The way to be happy and joyful every day is to run to the LORD no matter what time of year it is. No matter what your chaotic circumstances are, when you run to the LORD and choose to trust in Him and rest in Him, your outlook on anything in this life will change. The circumstances of your life may never change, but because you are choosing to trust in the One and Only who can do far more than you can imagine, it is you who changes.
You must chose to trust Him. This means laying fears, doubts, anguish, chaos...at His feet and continuing to do this constantly. If you have never really chosen to do this before, then you can not imagine the difference in living it can be.
Not just happiness, but outright JOY--His joy will permeate your life if you allow Him to be the center of you and all you do. This choice is not flippant. You must go into it as a determined child of God. He will help you, but He wants you to desire it and do it. When you choose this, He is glorified!
The road to true joy is through Him. Let's get walking on that road!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21
One and Only: John 1:18NIV
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3 comments:
This is the truth! We are to be content in all things, not wait for all things that make us content. I know a man who has over $400,000.000 in his savings acount and an equity in properties exceeding $200,000.000, yet he is one of the lonliest, most discontent people I have ever known. Why? He does not know a personal relationship with Christ. He is not an atheist, but probably agnostic. There is no person, place, or thing that can cause us to be content because this contentment is to be found only in Christ.
Thank you for such a wonderful reminder!
Thank you, Cherry, for your input. There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness can be fleeting and rely on our circumstances. But joy can stand alone as a life choice. I suppose unbelievers, who are made in the image of God also, can choose to live in joy, but "life" is so tough. God is the One who can surmount all of our circumstances and we can live in His joy no matter what chaos we live in. :oD
Excellent points! Joy is our birthright as Christians, yet we (I) look to the world for it all too often.
"The only thing normal around here is a setting on the dryer"
Love it!
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