Now, for me, a cold rainy day in March was just what the doctor ordered. But for my daughter, it was a different story. Her third-grade class was supposed to have a picnic lunch at Zilker Park after their visit to the Children's Museum, but the rain changed all that. Imagine the scene: twenty grumbling third-graders eating Lunchables in the warm, dry confines of their classroom, feeling betrayed by the weatherman and cheated out of their field trip. (Cue the violin music here...) It was a sad sight.
So, what's the difference? It's all about making a CHOICE. I choose joy. I choose life. I choose the glass being half full. I choose to love the rain. So just because the rain fell, my spirits didn't have to. Think about it: my yard got watered, my car got washed, my raincoat got worn, my windshield wipers got used (OK, now that's a bit of a reach!), my home air conditioner got turned off, and my Starbucks gift card got redeemed. That's a pretty productive day, huh?!
In his classic book, Here and Now, Henri Nouwen says this about JOY:
"Joy is essential to the Christian life. Whatever we may think
or say about God, when we are not joyful, our thoughts and words cannot bear fruit...Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us."
Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Pastor David,
ReplyDeleteYour closing scripture referring to Phil 4:4. Reminds me of the song by Israel and New Breed – Again I Say Rejoice. Side bar – this is a highly anointed Christian Group. If you get a chance, please take a moment to sample their music on iTunes. Sorry, that was not a shameless commercial plug for a group. Just a fleeing thought-back to the Blog at hand.
It's often easy to lose site of rejoicing when things don't work out the way you hoped or planned. It reminds me of how David must of felt when he was fleeing from Saul after all the love he showed to him. -Great story to read in your leisure (1 Samuel 16 -29).- I'm sure David didn't see a whole lot of rejoicing in a situation when someone is trying to kill you. Nevertheless, he stayed the course and chose to think positive and still love Saul, how many of us could do that? To me, that is a great example of rejoicing when you can love someone who despises your being regardless of the situation you might be in.