Finding Joy In Your Story

Sitting here at my desk today, with the only sounds being the whir of the air conditioner and the occasional barking of a dog, I listened to a podcast, taking notes as I went. I flicked through old articles and read through devotionals in my inbox that I hadn’t had a chance to read, jumping from one thing to the next, not really able to focus on anything.

Picking up my phone, I began to scroll through my photos, and I came across a quote I had saved that seemed to jump right off the page at me, for want of a better term.

“Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you are actually living.”

What a challenge!

Some days, life is just plain hard. Days roll into weeks and weeks roll into months and we feel like the roller coaster we’re on will never end, the struggles will never cease, and in the process, we lose our joy.

Sometimes in life, circumstances happen that throw our plans into disarray. We hit a bump in the road that sends us off the course we had planned. Unexpected things happen and before we know it, we wake up one day, realizing that this is not the life we planned and not the life we wanted.

We had a totally different picture in mind.

And suddenly, our joy is gone. Our happiness has been stolen away and we are left feeling discontent, disgruntled, joyless, and downright miserable.

The picture of what we thought life would look like is vastly different than the reality.

We only have one life to live and although it may not be the life we had planned and although there are twists and turns in the road that are unexpected, and with each new season, a new challenge arises, we have to choose to love the life we’ve been given and make the most of the God-given opportunities he brings across our path.

Loving life is a choice, and it should never be determined by your circumstances. The life you’re living today is the life God has given you, for this particular season, and the reason you’ve lost your joy is because of your attitude. You’ve chosen to hang on to your picture of what life should look like, instead of finding joy in the life you’ve been given.

Your peace, your joy, and your contentment depend on the choices you make.

I want to remind you that although you can’t choose the life circumstances you go through, you can choose HOW you go through them.

Are you struggling with the circumstances you find yourself in at this particular point in time? Are you fighting against the God-given difficulties in your life and feeling like you’ve reached the end of your patience level?

I feel like I’m not the only one in this season at present. Maybe I’m a little more vocal about it and I harp on it more than others, but I know I’m not the only one that has found myself in circumstances beyond my control, fidgeting and hopping from one foot to the other, battling the desire to take things into my own hands and fix it even though I have no idea how I would do it.

One of my favourite authors once said:

“Usually, the only aspect we can change about our circumstances is our outlook. So, we must adjust our attitudes, alter our actions, and put on a cloak of contentment in order to weather life’s circumstantial storms” Karen Ehman

We have to consciously make a choice to take off the cloak of discontentment and misery, and grab the garment of contentment, (being satisfied to the point that we are no longer disturbed or disquieted in our souls), wrap it around us and choose joy, knowing that God is in control, and that he will do what is best, and despite the storm raging around us, he will bring the peace that we need.  

I could very well be preaching to the choir here, as the saying goes, but I know that this particular choir member needs this reminder today, and if I need it, then I’m sure someone else does too!

So how do we learn to find joy in the story we’re living right now? In this season. At this time in history. With the people we are surrounded with. In the house we live in. With the job we have.

How do we find joy? We have to let go.

We have to let go of the picture we have painted in our minds, lay down the brush, tip out the murky water jar, wipe the paint smudges off our faces and hands, and submissively, and humbly, give our concerns to God.

It’s not an easy task, deciding to find joy in your current story.

It’s hard to look around and not feel discontentment rising inside. It’s hard to let go of all the ideas you had and the plans you had made and choose to find joy and happiness in what you’ve been given and how God has chosen to write the script of your life.

I confess that one of my biggest problems is fear. Fear of the future. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failure. And believing the lie that God is not in control and needs help with the planning.

I have begun to realise over the past couple of weeks, that my days will be miserable unless I choose to change my attitude and how I see the new picture that God has painted.

I have to choose joy. I have to diligently spend my days, looking for the little blessings God sends, looking for the roses amongst the thorns.

I can’t control everything. I don’t know what the future holds and my plans are fraught with mistakes and mess ups. Only God can organize them perfectly.

Why am I not spending every minute of my day finding joy in my new story? God’s story. God’s plans.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God’s plans for you and for me are good, and he has our best interests at heart. He loves us with an everlasting love. He knows our deepest longings, he hears our cries, he knows the dreams and desires of our hearts and he longs for us to live a joyful, victorious life.

But joy doesn’t come automatically. It requires some effort on our part. We have to make a choice.

So, how do we do this? How do we go from fear to faith and find the joy we have lost?

Now, speaking from experience, I am no expert at this. I am continually learning and failing and learning the lesson again. God is longsuffering with me of which I am very thankful.

I am constantly reminding myself that I have to do what I can and leave God the rest. I have to learn not to stress about all I can’t do and the things beyond my control.

God is big enough to handle it.

It really is pointless to waste all my energies and brainpower on the things I can’t change. I need to drop it and move on, seeking the Lord as I go.

I know that if my husband was reading this, he’d be saying, “that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you all along!” Praise God my darling husband has a steadying effect on me, and it never ceases to amaze me that he has the ability to have freedom over worry and fear. He doesn’t let stress cripple him. I would do well to learn by his example, letting go of fear and chasing joy and contentment.

I’m a work in progress. As we all are.

If I can encourage you today, to let go of your idea of what life should look like and embrace joyfully, the life God has chosen to give you today, you will find that your days, although they are often long and hard, will be more restful as you stop struggling and fighting against what God is doing, and submit to his will, going with his flow, not trying to swim against it.

He really is in control. He really is a good Father. He really does love you. He really does want you to rekindle the joy you once had and take pleasure in the blessings he sends.

John 10:10b

...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.