Tag Archives: grief

Fighting for Joy, Transforming Joy

Fighting Discouragement

5 Comments

Been fighting discouragement all day, a general oppressive mood. I’m a IT instructor, so I can’t check my mind at the door and fully deal with how I’m feeling, I have to keep going. However, I’m learning to acknowledge my feelings and not just stuff them. This process is new for me and I’m not always sure how to proceed. However, it’s adding richness to my life and helping me understand who I really am.

Digging deeper, I recognize my disheartened mood stems from sadness. People I love are  hurting. Their pain grieves me.

“Lord, is there anything I can do?”

I feel helpless to help.

The day moves on. No one knows my sadness. Outwardly, I lay out the material and field the questions. I care about my students. So, this keeps me engaged.

The day comes to an end. On the drive home,  I begin to tend to my feelings. I realize this discouragement is an attack upon my heart, the well spring of my life.

I remember the French word for heart is “cour,” yielding our word “courage”. This dis-couragement I’m feeling threatens my courage.

I decide to preach good news to myself:

These present circumstances are not worthy to be compared to the glories which await me in Christ Jesus.[1]

Jesus loves me as much as God the Father loves Him.[2]

My Lord is  God of all comfort, who sooths my heart with His nearness.[3]

Jesus Christ indwells me by His Holy Spirit.  Mine is to depend upon Him for every word and deed. [4]

In spite of these circumstances, I can experience full joy in God’s presence.[5]

This sadness can be considered a good thing, if it draws me into deeper dependence upon Christ. [6]

Bringing these feelings to God, and trusting Him in them, purifies my soul and leads to joy unspeakable and full of glory.[7]

I died and Christ is now my life. My affections are on Him and His desires.   [8]

My goodness is not dependent on how things are going or how I feel. God’s nearness is my good.[9]

Truth stirs my heart. Courage wells up. God’s life within begins to relieve my pain.

Prayer:  Wow.   Lord, you are transforming my heart by the sweetness of your truth. Your words are honey to my soul. My circumstances have not changed, but you have given me renewed vigor. You have filled my soul with gladness, more than when their grain and new wine abound. I praise you my Father, my King.

 

[1] Romans 8:18

[2] John 15:9

[3] 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

[4] Galatians 2:20

[5] Psalm 16:11

[6] James 1:2-4

[7] I Peter 1:6-9

[8] Colossians 3:1-4

[9] Psalm 73:28

Choosing Joy, Joy

Can Joy be a Choice?

Leave a comment

“Joy does not simple happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep on choosing it every day.”  Henri Nouwen

Violet

A few months ago I crowded in a chapel attending the funeral of a little girl named Violet. Violet died during her birth, the first child of Joseph and Judy.

Many wore violet articles of clothes to the service, honoring her life and her parent’s courage. Though Violet’s life was short, she impacted us all.

After the service, we were all given violet helium balloons to release on cue. When we did, the sky was filled with floating circles of purple, growing smaller and smaller as they drifted to the heavens; a salute to violet’s life and a message of love to her from us all.

As inspirational as the balloons were, what hit me most was Violet’s parent’s response. We learned from the eulogy that in the midst of incalculable sadness and grief, Joseph and Judy were choosing joy.

 Choosing Joy?

As I ponder Joseph and Judy’s resolve, I wonder how it’s possible to choose joy just days after her death.

How could this really be true? Isn’t joy supposed to be something good? Seeing the pain on Judy and Joseph’s face, I’m conflicted.

Paul’s command in I Thessalonians 5:16 comes to mind, one of the shortest verses in the Bible: “Rejoice always;”

The word ‘rejoice’ is from the old French word ‘rejoiur’, which means full of joy.

I’m to be full of joy even when my circumstances are difficult. I’m to rejoice always. But this is extreme. An only child is dead. Are we to be full of joy even then? My heart fights this notion.

What makes choosing joy possible?

In another place I read “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

Be full of joy in the Lord.

God is joy. He is the source of joy, it exudes from Him. “In your presence is fullness of Joy.” Psalm 16:11b

Choosing joy is choosing God in the midst of anything and everything I’m going through.

As children of God, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, including being sealed in Christ with the promised Holy Spirit. [1]

We are in Christ and He is in us. See also Galatians 2:20a  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me;”

Joy, true joy, is found in our nearness to Christ and His nearness to us.

Joy is eternal, unaffected by the circumstances of our lives. Joy is God himself.

Judy and Joseph love Violet so much. Their whole world was flipped upside down on the day she was born. Months of anticipation and excitement were at once turned to horror and indescribable sadness. Yet through it all, when hearts were crumbling, they clung to each other and choose God’s nearness. They choose to find their comfort in God. They choose joy.

“In your presence is fullness of joy.” 

Challenge:  What circumstance is zapping your joy right now? No matter how difficult your situation is, choose at this moment to rejoice in God’s nearness. In spite of all, choose God, choose joy.

Lord, thank you that in all I go through, you never leave me. Indeed you are closer than breath. You are my joy. Help me continually choose you. Amen

[1] Ephesians 1:3-13