Rediscover Joy

Perhaps this sounds familiar. You wake up in the morning, frantic at the prospect of an overwhelming day. You’ve got a to-do list a mile long. Things weigh on your mind: health issues, finances, relationships, meetings, kid stuff, responsibilities at work and home. Heaviness presses your spirit as you look at the headlines, or scroll through your social media feeds. And it just looks like the same every day, stretching on into the infinite future. You want nothing more than to head right back to bed for a long, long time, but people are depending on you. What if you fail? What if you can’t do it all? You start to feel sad, angry, discouraged, self-critical. And on it goes, a cycle of thought twisting you downward.

I’ve been there, and I have to work hard to avoid the doubts and fears that threaten to steal my peace. It helps me to remember something from many years ago. It’s a sweet memory I have of my first son, at about a year and a half, getting up in the morning. I would walk into his room to find him standing in his crib, looking around, interested. As soon as he caught sight of me, his face would light up in the most wonderful, sunshiny smile. He would bounce with anticipation and babble delightedly. Now, how many adults do you know who rise with such joy? For that matter, how many people are ever that glad to see you?

I compare the baby’s first waking moments to my own. What did he have that I’m missing – or what was he missing that I don’t need either? We accumulate fears and resentments as we grow older, and lose the childlike faith that greets every morning like it’s the best day ever. Our joy gets lost in the shuffle.

So instead of, “What’s on my to-do list,” perhaps it should be, “What’s on the Lord’s to-do list today?” That would put a new spin on life. How would it be to get in sync with what the Father’s doing and do it right along with Him? That’s where purpose comes in, real, world-changing, life-affirming, get-out-of-bed-with-joy purpose.

But how do we get there? I find it helps to start the day with thanksgiving. The Apostle Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1Thessalonians 5:18). When I turn my heart toward the Father in gratitude for all of my blessings – and even my difficulties – something changes in me. The focus is less on me and more on Him. Then I ask God for wisdom, a prayer He always grants (see James 1:5). I ask Him for an eternal perspective, too, and for grace to deal with what comes. Having passed the reins of control for the day to the Lord, all I have to do is go: go live. Go do. Go be. Because the whole point of our lives is to glorify God, not to please ourselves. And when God is the focus, we look up instead of down, we hope instead of hurt. The Lord takes our cares and tosses them away as far as the East is from the West. That’s far. That’s joy.

Standing with you,

Carolyn

What do you think? Did this encourage you? Change your focus? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Leave a comment below!