Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Joy Stealer

Do you have any of those?  Joy stealers, I mean.  For me, it's feeling the displeasure of others. 
I can be singing in my heart, noticing the blue of the sky and the puff of the clouds, looking to the bright side of life.  And then . . . someone expresses their displeasure with me.  Maybe it's earned . . . maybe it's not.
And my joy is stolen away.  I can feel it leave.  I can feel it leave me flat.  And then, if I'm not careful, I can feel its absence begin to draw me down . . . down . . . down.  Negative thoughts, hopeless feelings.
I bet you have your joy stealers too.
I found myself in this mode yesterday.  Flat . . . and then . . . beginning . . . to go down.
And then I remembered:
God is not displeased with me.
There's nothing I can do to mess up with Him.  Because His Son already lived perfectly before His Father and He's given that gift to me.
When I look in His face, I don't find disappointment, or frustration or disgust.  I find, instead, acceptance, and love and enjoyment.  Because Jesus has already paid for anything I've done that's disappointing or frustrating or even, perish the thought, disgusting.
And it came back.  Joy, I mean.
I could feel it buoy back up inside of me.  No one could steal that joy.
Because my joy doesn't depend on any person or any person's approval.
And so, when I found this little snippet later, "In him my heart rejoices!"  I could lift my hands in the air in glad agreement.
No one can steal my joy.  I have a source that can't be pillaged.

4 comments:

  1. that was incredibly beautiful. I read a quote the other day that as saying "are you listening to yourself or talking to yourself?" It was a reminder to talk TRUTH to ourselves and not listen to the negative thoughts/feelings. My biggest joy stealer is when I move into any kind of perfectionism and performance. I always have to speak the Truth of the finished work on the Cross to myself. Thanks SO much for sharing this!

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  2. You go girlie!!!! You are completely marvelous and wonderfully made. Yes, it is hard to hang on to that Joy some days more than others, darn it!
    Feel the hug special girl. XO XO

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  3. So glad you are back, SHELLY! I love your words in this post....ALL HAIL THE POWER OF HIS NAME, indeed! (It also will make me think harder before I express my own displeasure about whatever difficulty the particular moment holds....sometimes it's hard to bite your tongue :)

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  4. Please reserve me a oopy of the book you need to write one day! This is so well written! So full of rich wisdom. You are just the best! Xo, Sue

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