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Erica (my Wife and Soul Mate), recently had a gathering with her Art group, and she tasked everyone to come up with an inspirational "keyword" for 2019. The plan being that the pieces of Art created must have a theme synonymous with the keyword, a kind of barometer to ensure that one doesn't stray etc.
I was excited and intrigued to hear that Erica had chosen the word "JOY."
This for me, revealed a disturbing reality; being that we all too often allow our circumstances to determine who we are and how we should feel. This is a kind of bondage in many respects, because the world is very good at encouraging us to feel and act in a way conducive with our circumstances. This for me isn't always Christian in that, yes we should have time for grieving the loss of loved ones, or shedding a few tears because of hardships; but we have to be careful that we do not allow our circumstances to rob us of the deposit or treasure; the "joy"
entrusted to us as children of God.
scripture teaches us that we should "cast all of our cares on the Lord" (1 Pet 5:7) for this very reason. Faith allows us to release the feeling of sadness, so that we can come again back into the joyful state which is both a blessing and a responsibility. The world is very good at keeping people in sadness, robbing them of their joy.
When you look around, are you seeing brothers and sisters in Christ radiating his joy? Are we looking for opportunities every day to give God praise for the beauty of His creation and the circumstances which Glorify Him? Each one of us has a responsibility to reveal a joyful faith to others; let us try be a little more habitual in sharing our Joy, our smiles and our praise. Thank you Lord for your Joy. I pray that we all make more of an effort to share this blessing with each other.