I've been thinking a lot about God and who He is and how He does things. I sometimes am amazed at the little ways He weaves things together at just the right time to "prove" He's with me and is FOR me. When I am intentional about keeping my eyes on Him, I get to see these glimpses of just how much He knows me and the things I need. Here is the most recent example:
As I have written about before, things haven't exactly been the easiest lately. My head has not been in the greatest of spaces and I definitely have NOT been the most pleasant of people to be around. I was starting to find less and less blessings and more and more negative things. God had a plan to turn things around... It wasn't until today that I realized how He was working.
A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak at our church's women's retreat in February. It seemed a little out of the blue to me, as I've only been attending the church for just under 6 months. But, I agreed to speak and was given a choice to speak on Abiding in Christ or Joy in Jesus. I went with Joy in Jesus because that's what I felt God urging me to pick.
Over the next couple of weeks, I started planning what I would be talking about, reading a lot of Bible verses and looking through books on JOY. I have listened to a lot of stories women ( and some men) who found joy in Jesus in amongst their hard times. I watched MANY YouTube videos of Chonda Pierce (a Christian comedienne) who suffered great loss and yet found laughter in her darkness. As I have been working on the session I will be teaching, I have found myself more joy-filled. More at peace. With more hope. My attitude is changed. And what once felt like drowning seems so much more manageable. I have smiled more, laughed more. There's been a little extra pep in my step. NOTHING on the outside has changed. I am still balancing the boys' needs and my self doubts and the pandemic and a multitude of other things. BUT, the inside has changed immensely.
God knew what I needed. He knew just how to make it happen. How interesting it is that He orchestrates even the little things. We as humans often learn the best when we have to teach it to others. I am definitely no different... preparing to teach on joy only helped me learn how to find and keep joy in my heart. I am so grateful that He works even in the little things!
I want to leave you with a quote from back of one of the books I have been looking through on joy. It struck me and has stuck with me...
"Joy is meant to be ours, a joy that is defiant in the face of this broken world. This joy is not simply happiness on steroids; it's the unyielding belief that sorrow and loss do not have the final say. It's stubborn determination to be present to whatever may come and to interpret both goodness and grief by the light of heaven." Stasi Eldredge, Defiant Joy
