Journey towards Joy

Sometimes I whine.

Other days I obsess over the state of things. Mad Politics. Bad news. Sad gossip…..

Don’t get me wrong.  I am incredibly blessed.  Yet, in the quiet, I find it easy to marinate in despondency. Darkness. Disappointment. The half empty.

In a world that is overcome with depression and anxiety, I want to beat the norm and live a life full of JOY.  Searching, seeking for this, I look to my favorite resource for all wisdom, God’s word.  Come along with me.

I think we can find “steps to Joy” in Philippians 4.  Good writing, Paul!  Great truth. Read it.  All of it.

 ^“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Phil. 4:4-8

Just Do it!

So, I looked up “rejoice,” just checking to see how much “joy” is connected to this vigorous admonition, commanding us to rejoice.  Here you go:

Rejoice: Feel or show great joy or delight.

What I see here, is that to show joy is an important form of rejoicing.  Do I always feel joyful? Nope.  Can I express authentic joy, even in the absence of emotion.  Evidently. Is this “faking it?” No.  I think we can be honest about our struggles with sorrow, but continue to express joy.

As I followed up on this exhortation, I saw the key elements of a path to both peace and joy in the verses following.

Love Others

“Gentleness… evident to all.”  Whew!  What a powerful phrase.  Loving people brings joy.  How can I love others today?  When I look up from my own belly button, the world expands.  I experience a richer, fuller life.  Relationships blossom.  Pray for an outward focus, rather than a constant “me” analysis.  When I am busy doing good to others, my heart fills up.  When I have a coffee visit, sharing my heart and listening to a friend, my heart fills up. Great spiritual science.

Up above you see a photo of me with some of my people: My mom, brother and sister, and a nephew.  Spending time with people I love fills me up.  Hangout with people that love you and listen to you and speak truth to you. Delight in those relationships.

Thankful Prayer

Instead of bleeding out in worry, turn to God with thankful prayer.  The load of your concerns, fears, troubles, is too great alone, but with the irrational peace of the Lord, you can live joyfully, in the middle of every situation. Persist in prayer.  Stubbornly sing praises. Choose a thankful response.  Let your anxieties fade from the spotlight of center stage.

Eat Clean Mentally

How are you spending your thought life?  I know I can go from joyful to despairing, if I focus on the waves of this world, rather than the One who calms the storm.  “True, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy.” God, who created the human psyche, knows that we “are what we eat.”  In your search for truth, eat cleanly.

I love politics, blogs, news, people stories.  But sometimes, they bring me down.  I wrestle with the balance of my info hobby and my need for joy.  Being sure I spend time in God’s word, soaking in some worship music, asking the positive update questions, reading encouraging words.  These help me keep my mental diet balanced.  Still working on this….

Be Obedient

Live by the wisdom God gives. We know these things. Go beyond knowledge, and put them in to practice. Have we learned that God is a perfect, loving, all-wise and all-powerful Father, who really does have our best in mind?  Do you trust that the God of the ages maybe has a bit of an idea of how joy and life work?  Then follow Him and do what He says.

We usually know what to do.  We’ll be happier if we do it.

In all this, I am hoping you find Joy.  I am going to continue in my pursuit. It is a choice and a discipline….a journey and a joy.

Clutterless Living

Hmmm.  Spell check says that clutterless is not a word.  Now, here is where I use my Linguistic degree and declare that Noam Chomsky’s thoughts make it one.  According to the guru of my UW degree, if we are a native speaker of the tongue and say something, it is correct.  (Liberal Arts education comes in handy, eh?)

So, busy souls with overflowing counters and uber-packed calendars, let’s pause for 3 minutes and consider it all.  (Uber-packed; see how I did that?)

My idea of a clean house does not usually involve dusting and floor care.  It does require clutter be picked up and out of sight, or sent to the local thrift shop (Fofi is my favorite in Washougal, btw.) As I contemplate my mental counters, I often find piles perched all about, filling up my time, creating stress and removing peace.  I’ll focus on physical clutter another time.  Today, let’s talk cluttered clocks.

One of my favorite thoughts on work/life/family/friend balance goes like this, “You cannot keep adding to the platter without taking something off.”

Think about it this way. When you go to the beautiful buffet table, the first trip is always the easiest.  You go hungry and with a clean plate.  Imagine a spread where you were not allowed to get a new plate every time.  The second trip would find you pushing chicken bones and fish skin to the side, trying to make space for round two between the grape stems and half eaten mu shoo pork.  The third set would be even trickier, trying to keep the last bit of your coconut curry from blending with the orange jello and almond cookies. Ewwwwwww.

We make choices everyday on how we will spend our time, our energy.

Prioritizing helps.

I guess that’s where we can begin.  What is most important to you? I go through seasons of reevaluation.  What needs to change? What am I called to for this season in life? Where do I  need to trim? A little prayer and contemplation can do wonders, bringing freedom and fresh spiritual space.

Examine relationships, hobbies, activities. Consider responsibilities and routines. Eyeball the calendar.  Where are you spending your resources?

There are times where we sprint, with a heavy load, but we cannot do this indefinitely.  Pace yourself. Refresh yourself.

I am reading a book on the concept of Sabbath rest.  We are so BUSY, that for many of us, even things that should bring us joy feel like chores.  Hmmm.  SCHEDULE some time in to contemplate your life and consider your calendar.  One of my friends calls it “whitespace.”  She lives an active, productive, JOYFUL life, but guards time blocks for peace and renewal.

Even more importantly, God calls us to be thoughtful with our time resources.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15, 16

I chose the King James because it says it a bit more bluntly.  Here’s the April version: Walk (not run) deliberately. Don’t be a fool! Be wise. Time is short and there is evil about, so pay attention.

God calls us to use our time for His purpose in these crazy days. Maybe He has some wise guidance for how we use our time.

There are times where you really have to make a big change. I continue to grow in this. Consider wisely. Count the cost. Pray and listen. Talk with a trusted friend. And then forge ahead. Or, as Chomsky would concur, walk circumspectacularly.