Skip to main content

Choose Joy

In life, there will be people who will just always seem to be against you. 

It won't matter what you do -  it will be wrong. 

It won't matter what you say - it will be wrong. 

You won't be enough. 

You will be too much. 

Your intentions will be misunderstood. 

Your explanations will be invalidated. 

The list goes on and on. 


It can be so discouraging..... if you let it. 


Tonight I was able to take part in a wonderful Bible study and it was such a great reminder to me of how we are in control of how we choose to react to the different circumstances of our life - both good and bad. 

We can stay humble. 

We can stay kind. 

We can continue to take joy despite our circumstances. 

It isn't always easy and sometimes it takes work but God gives us so many examples in the Bible to provide us the encouragement we need to press on. 


Tonight our study was on Philippians. 

I want to pull out two specific verses:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6

- AND - 

It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. - Philippians 1:7


Philippians 1:6 is very special to me personally. Nearly eleven years ago it became one of my life verses. I went in for my 6th chemo treatment hoping and praying that it would be my last only to find out that I would need to have 6 more treatments for a total of 12 - discouraging news as you can imagine. 

One of our pastors came in and shared that scripture with me. Basically, it meant that it didn't matter how my cancer journey ended, Jesus was still doing a work in me and He would keep doing a work on me until the day I met Him. 

Tonight God added to that by giving me the next part of that scripture....

Paul is actually writing this letter of joy to the church in Philippi while he is in prison. Yes, you read that correctly.... a letter of JOY from PRISON. 

That makes my current circumstances look pretty small. 

Clearly, Paul had some enemies. 

Clearly, people somewhere and somehow had an objection with his words and actions. 

Clearly, he was too much for some, not enough for others, he was misunderstood, and his explanations were invalidated... 

But... he didn't allow himself to become discouraged. He wrote this beautiful letter of joy to the church in Philippi providing encouragement to them. 

So tonight we have a choice, my friends... we can be like the world or we can be like Paul. We can let it get us down or we can continue to allow Jesus to use us to be that light in the world that the world so desperately needs. 

There will always be someone. 

But we get to choose. 

We get to choose joy. 




Comments

  1. Janesse McMillenJanuary 13, 2022 at 5:56 AM

    I really needed to hear these words today, your writings are beautiful, raw, and wrapped in gods love !! Thank you❤Janesse

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello 2016

How is it 2016 already? It seems like yesterday I was 12 and then I blink and I am a wife and a mother of 5. Time sure does fly.  I have been doing a lot of reflecting to ring in the new year. I have been thinking about the things I accomplished in 2015... What I didn't... What I want to accomplish in 2016.  I think I kind of had the motto in 2015 to "just to better". Eat a little healthier. Exercise a little more. Get a little more organized. Make more memories. And I believe I accomplished all those on a tentative level. This year I want to use 2015 as a springboard and just keep doing better in 2016.  I am excited for this year. Probably more so than I have been in many previous years. I know it is going to be a great year.  Oh, and I plan on doing a whole lot more writing than I did in 2015. 😊
Post a Comment
Read more

When You Have No Words...

For as long as I can remember I have been a verbal processor.  Since I was a small girl I remember my chosen method of processing has been the written word. That is where I feel most comfortable with my own "voice".  For those of you who have followed us as family over the past decade or longer you know that while I was battling cancer I wrote almost every single day. It was how I could connect with God and how I could cope with the battle I was in. It was also the one way I knew that I could leave a piece of myself here for my husband and my children if God decided to call me home.  If you were following us two years ago you know when I gave birth to my sweet Kanton Jasper, who was born sleeping, that I spent a great deal of time writing about my grief and how I was processing it. Again, it helped me process along with preserved his memory.  Writing is just what I have been able to do to help me cope with the things that life throws at me.  In fact, I feel so m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Random Ramblings from a 5 Time Mom

So for part of our Christmas this year we decided to take our kids to Disneyland. (More on this later.) While there this man struck up a conversation and he couldn't believe we brought all 5 of our children to Disneyland. Crazy concept - I know - taking ALL of our kids to Disneyland at the SAME time. We thought about making them all draw straws to see who we would leave at home but I couldn't find enough straws... Then we thought about leaving the baby behind but he was free and I can't say no to a bargain.... Just kidding!!!😊 But honestly, I hear this kind of stuff all the time. You should see when I take all of my kids to the grocery store, or better yet, a restaurant by myself. I want to tell people that I have 5 words for them.... I. Can. Read. Your. Lips. 😉 Most of the time it just makes me chuckle. (Unless they say something rude. Then I get irritated.) I know that the majority of the time people just don't understand it because they don't know it. If they k...
Post a Comment
Read more