Choosing Joy

 

About a year ago I realized that somewhere between raising kids, homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, being a taxi service and just doing life, I had lost my joy. All of these things were exactly what I wanted to be doing, I really, really enjoy being a mom! Homeschooling is fun, cooking is….. Ok not really my cup of tea, but cleaning is relaxing and running my kids to practices and classes means I get to watch them grow and do something they enjoy. But yet I was still wondering where was the joy??

So at the beginning of the school year I set out to do my own study on joy. Now that it is the end of the school year, and summer vacation has “officially” come to the Herr house, I thought I would sit down and see what I had learned. And as I sat down to do that I realized, somewhere, in this last year, I had not “found” my joy, but rather I had learned that it has to be chosen. I realized that my joy was never really lost, I had just gotten in to a habit of choosing to look at my circumstances, choosing to listen to my doubts and choosing to be moved by my fears. I don’t know if anybody else struggles with that or not, but I thought I would share a bit of what I have learned, and I hope that it is an encouragement!

Heb 10:23 Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word]

1 Thess. 5:24 He who calls you is faithful and He will surely do it.

If I hold on the confession of my hope with out wavering, and am filled with the conviction that He who promised is faithful, then I am free to let God do His job and I can do mine, which is to choose joy.

Funny thing about this is, I can not even begin to count the number of times I have said to Mai Li, “Trust me to do my job, and you do yours! The more you try to do my job, the less you can do yours, and that never ends with you being happy” Its so easy for me to see in someone else….

1 Thess. 5:16 Rejoice always and delight in your faith; 17 be unceasing and persistent in prayer; 18 in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

No season or suffering can prohibit joy, because it is not of this world, it is of the Holy Spirit. To crippling circumstances that try to demand the right to rule, this joy is the banging of the gavel:”Motion denied”.  Joy is the gravity defying grace to know that what we see is not all there is, and doom is not our destiny. Unceasing rejoicing is like a song on constant replay that sings ” I know my God will be faithful. I know He will turn this out well. I know what my God has promised. I know that He can not fail.” Joy throws the heavy cloak of hopelessness on the floor and pulls the “splendid clothes” (Is. 61:3) from the closet. It says what we bear need not be what we wear.(Excerpt from Children of the Day by Beth Moore)

When I choose joy it puts me on the hunt for Gods goodness right here in the middle of life and whatever difficulties it brings. It shifts my focus.

I don’t know what this road that we are on now, with this adoption, is going to look like. I know its not going to be easy, because adoption is always a battle. But I also know that I am going to trust God to do His job, so that I am freed up to do mine. I CHOOSE joy.

 

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