Guest Post: Choose Joy
I was scrolling through FB a few weeks ago and came across a post that one of Roman & Ruby’s favorite teachers wrote about choosing joy in unknown circumstances. I knew I had to share it over here, so I asked her if I could. She said, “yes!” Shawna Mohler is a wife, mom of two teenagers, an Early Childhood Educator and a follower of Jesus. I hope this post is an encouragement to you, as it has been for me!
3/25/2020
As I write this we are in the midst of a “Shelter in Place” order from the Governor of Illinois in response to the Covid 19 Pandemic that has taken the world by surprise. As I sit here I feel some anxiety. I am sitting in the quiet of my own living room, in my pajamas, with a laptop in my lap. Why do I feel anxious? I believe for me, it's the unknown. I am a planner. I like to know what's going to happen, when it's going to happen and what I need to do to help. Give me a task and I will complete it.
I don’t know why God wants me to write my thoughts down. I’m not a writer. I have no desire to write. So I am questioning why. While I am questioning why, I feel Satan trying to fill my head with lies. “You can’t write. You don’t have anything important enough to say that you should write it down. No one is going to read or care what you write.” All of those statements may be true, but I remember the scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control”. Satan is trying to fill me with fear while God is calling me to obedience to listen and act. So I sit here and I write, not knowing what God is going to do with these words. Not knowing a plan. Not knowing why. The world around us is filled with fear, but we should be filled with “joy”. Fear is contagious but joy is, as well. We all need more joy, especially now with the fear we see and hear all day long with the unknown of this virus.
During the last twenty months I believe that God has been teaching me that I can not control what happens to me or around me. But, I do control how I respond to situations and to people. I really can control how I respond. I know this statement is true. I wish I could say that I always respond the right way, but I don’t. I’ve adopted my own little saying in the last year and half that I tell myself and my family on a regular basis, “choose joy”. I have a t-that says “Joy in the Journey”. The journey may be rough, but finding Joy in the midst of the journey is essential. Again, I wish I could say that I am always joyful and that I always remember this statement, but I don’t. I start to slip into a “woe is me” mindset. Thankfully my God is so faithful and so generous, He gently...or not so gently...reminds me with one simple word: JOY. It’s my attitude that I can control, that allows me to choose joy.
The dictionary defines joy as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation”. I can get caught up in that definition when I look at my own situations and surroundings. I can ask God “how do you expect me to have joy when I have had to go through so many hard and hurtful things?” I have wrestled with the verse “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). I have questioned God on this one many times. How am I supposed to have joy in the middle of THIS? You surely didn’t mean for me to find joy in THIS situation? Do you know what is going on? Do you see THIS? Each time I have questioned God I get a resounding, “YES”. Yes, I see you. Yes, I know what you are going through. Remember I knew it was coming before you did? Yes, I know you are hurting. But, Yes, I want you to find Joy.
God wants me to find joy, not in my circumstances, not in my situation, but in HIM. He wants me to find true joy. Joy that only comes from knowing Him and living in obedience to Him. Joy that will flow from Him, through me, and to others. Joy that can only be described by saying, “You see that? You see that joy she has? That joy comes from being a child of the King.”
I am learning though that choosing joy does not mean you won’t have bad days. That doesn’t mean you won’t be sad or have ‘moments.’ You will. It just means you don’t stay in those moments of sadness and hurt forever. You eventually choose joy. I am choosing to replace hurt with joy. I am choosing to replace bitterness with joy. I am choosing to replace anxiousness with joy. I am choosing to replace unforgiveness with joy. I believe that I can choose joy because I know where my joy comes from- Jesus. I can choose joy because through Him I have a peace that surpasses all of my understanding.
Trust me here, I do not understand this world. But I do understand we live in a fallen world, marred by sin. I don’t understand why I have gone through the things I have gone through. I just have to give Him the glory for getting me through those trials and know that without Him, I would be lost and alone. But thankfully I can rest knowing He is right here with me. There is a song that we sing at church called “Hindsight”. When I hear this song I almost always have tears in my eyes. The lyrics are too powerful to shorten, take time to read through the whole song,
Hindsight
As I reflect
I find perspective
There in the best and worst days of this life
You were always on my side
You're in the pain
You're in the promise
And on the days the furnace finds my faith
You're the fourth within the flames
I don't need to know what the future says
'Cause if the past could talk it would tell me this
My God isn't finished yet
If He did it before He can do it again
So I'll trust Him with what comes next
For the God I know is known for faithfulness
Yeah, my hindsight says
I can trust Him with what's next
For the God I know
Is known for faithfulness
There's more ahead
Than what's behind me
'Cause through the highs and lows and in between
God You go ahead of me
And where You call me
I will follow
If the water folds beneath my feet
Then You'll pull me from the deep
I don't need to know what the future says
'Cause if the past could talk it would tell me this
My God isn't finished yet
If He did it before He can do it again
So I'll trust Him with what comes next
For the God I know is known for faithfulness
And my hindsight says I can trust Him with what's next
For the God I know is known for faithfulness
I don't need to know what the future says
'Cause if the past could talk it would tell me this
My God isn't finished yet
If He did it before He can do it again
So I'll trust Him with what comes next
'Cause my hindsight says I can count on this
My God isn't finished yet
If He did it before He can do it again
So I'll trust Him with what comes next
For the God I know is known for faithfulness
Yeah, my hindsight says I can trust Him with what's next
For the God I know is known for faithfulness
My God is known for His faithfulness. He has brought me through so much. How could I not trust Him with what comes next? When I begin to doubt and fear what is happening around me, I think of this song and let the words pour over me, I don’t need to know what the future says. The past (my past) tells me My God isn’t finished yet!
Shawna Mohler is a wife, mom of two teenagers, an Early Childhood Education and a follower of Jesus. She enjoys spending time with her family, hiking and spending time outdoors. She is very involved in her church and serving her community.