Joyful, Joyful….
Psalm 144:15 (New Living Translation)
15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this!
Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.
Today was a holiday, but for me it seemed like I was running all day. Towards the end of what had been a long day I had paperwork to drop off at a friend’s house. As I sat with her to take a breather and to decompress from the seemingly endless chores and task of the day, we began to discuss one of her children. He is what most would say or consider “special needs” because he has autism, but he is special for a whole different reason, and none of it has to do with the label identified by society or medical professionals. His mother explained to me that no matter what he is always, joyful and happy. He maintains an attitude of happiness. She said it doesn’t matter if she is waking him up early in the morning or if he is preparing for his bath, or to eat. If you ask him how he is his response is always, happy and he maintains the most beautiful contagious smile on his face that makes you want to smile too. As I sat and watched him at play, and heard some of the stories, of how he greets everyone with Good morning and is excited about his life, and how he every day that he is excited with his experiences in life. It made me stop and think how I handled life and what was my daily disposition and I felt guilty thinking of how often I did not find joy inside my days, my daily interactions, relationships and even the small things that God had blessed me to encounter on a regular basis.
Why is it so easy to focus on the things that are bad, or the things that may not turn out? Why are we consumed with the maybes, or the uncertainties, instead of being happy about all that we do have and all that we have been blessed to see and do in a day? We should be approaching each day with new found joy, realizing that God has been gracious and kind enough to allow us another day. If we have people that love and care for us how much more should we be happy, smiling and filled with joy, because so many cannot find that which we possess. But the things that struck me most was how can we wake up dreading the day, when God is who we are greeting, and who we say that we serve? The Bible in Nehemiah 8:10(b) says: “This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” Why is it that our soul is cast down and we get so inundated, when God is in us, and He gives us the ability to be happy, if we allow Him to? But as you have heard me say on many occasions, it is a choice, our choice if we seek happiness or focus on those things that are not true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of a good report( Philippians 4:8). It is about choosing to focus in on God and choosing to ask God to allow us to see things from His perspective that adds to our lives instead of detracts from our lives.
Tonight I saw a little boy who could be trapped by what he could not do, or the challenges he faces, but instead I saw a little boy that was happy for the little things he was able to do, the people he was around and the fact that he was alive and doing well enough to smile, talk, laugh and enjoy each moment that he was experiencing. As I sat and watched, I said to his mom I want to be more like him, and I could hear, in a still small voice, it is your choice whether you are happy and filled with joy of not, it is all in how you look at things. So I choose to see God and focus on all that He is doing in my life and all that He has blessed me with to this point; as well, as how blessed I am to have another opportunity to get it right, to make it better and to smile a bit bright and to see things with new vision and a new heart, mind, spirit and attitude!
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