“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the
bones” Proverbs 17:22
Perspective.
If you’ve been following me for any length of time you know
that I talk a lot about perspective. The way that we see things and the lens from
which we see it determines a lot about how we live our lives.
The word joy has
been coming up a lot for me lately. It’s in my Bible study, in my conversations
and just a lot in my thought process, and the more that I meditate on it, joy has everything to do with perspective. How often do we long for
things to be different? Maybe we would be happier if we had a different job.
Maybe we would be happier if we had more money. Maybe we would be happier if we
had such and such tool or supply. Maybe when our kids get a little older we
would have more freedom. And the list goes on and on.
But, guys, JOY is a choice. It is a fruit from the Lord that
comes we when are completely satisfied in Him. It’s a choice to be content with where we are
and what we have. Joy is a deep rooted satisfaction with our lives despite our
circumstances and it changes the perspective from which we see things.
JOY says, I will gladly do daily
household chores because I have a roof over my head that’s mine
.JOY says, I will listen to my name
called a million times a day because that means I am surrounded by people who
love me and need me.
JOY says, I will cook and clean up
for yet another meal because when I nourish little bodies, I can nourish little
souls.
JOY says, I will go to work every
day because I have been given the opportunity to provide for my family.
JOY says, I will endure hardships
and sufferings because it’s those things that are designed to produce
perseverance in me (James 1:2-3)
Guys, life is about so much more than what it seems
sometimes. It’s about the choices we make and the perspective from which we see
it. It’s about choosing every day to
find the good and seeing life through the eyes of a child. It’s about having faith that believes in the unseen and
that the best is yet to come. It’s about finding the joy in a situation that
seems the polar opposite. It takes a commitment on our part to look for it and
celebrate it. Switch your lens over to the eternal and watch how much more joy
you will experience in your life. Proverbs 17:22 says it all, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a
crushed spirit dries up the bones.” I
don’t know about you, but I don’t want to walk around wishing for something
more all the time. I want to experience that deep rooted joy that only Christ
can give. I want to be thankful and satisfied with what He has given me and
where He has placed me. It’s all about perspective, and choosing to find the
joy every day. It’s all those small things together that make life worth
living. <3
Have a great weekend!
Jennifer
Crafty Details
I started by adding some yellow and orange watercolor layers to an index card and drying it with my heating tool. Then, I added some texture with Texture Tiles 5 in Hickory Smoke and Picked Raspberry distress oxide. I then stamped the word “JOY” from Choose Faith in Spiced Marmalade and overlaid the word “choose” in black. I hand wrote Proverbs 17:22 at the bottom and clipped the card into my Bible as a reminder that Joy is a choice we must make every day.
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