Choosing to Be Joyful

A question I get very often is "how are you always so happy and smiling?" Let me tell you, and Travis could testify,  I am absolutely not always happy. There are days where I'm simply tired and completely frustrated.  There are people who frustrate me and moments that my patience is pushed to the max. Today is one of those days; my body is worn out, my mind is full of thoughts,  I don't know what to do,  and I just feel like crying. We all have those days, you know what I'm talking about. Everything that could go wrong does.

In those moments and on those days we have a couple choices.  We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves, complain about our life and by our attitude cause our situation to get worse. Or we can choose joy. Choosing joy isn't easy and sometimes may even feel like you're being fake. 

Honestly my friends,  our feelings don't matter though. If they did,  we would all be divorced and without jobs because I know we all have moments where we don't feel like going to work or don't feel in love with our spouse. 

You may feel too tired to get into the Word; do it anyway and see how being connected with God gives you a lift. You might feel like crying; try smiling at a stranger instead and see the blessing you'll receive. You may feel like complaining about your situation; list all the goods things and blessings in your life instead.

Joy is something that each and everyday I make the conscious effort to choose. Joy isn't based on my situation. It's not even based on whether I'm happy or not.  Actually joy and my happiness shouldn't be connected at all in my life. 

You see,  joy is something we're commanded to have: "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances,  for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 4:16)  God's will is for me to be joyful simply because Christ is in my life! Wow!

When hard times comes,  which they do to everyone, it's sometimes not easy to be joyful when life seems to be crumbling around you. But you can have joy in the fact that Christ is your friend and the Creator of the universe has your back.  Friends,  I pray that today we're all able to choose joy!

Good bless you,
Alicia