Joy

I am getting ready to go through a transition in my life…one that could be (in the flesh) difficult and one that every Mommy dreads. In less than a week, I will return to work after a beautiful and blessed 13 week maternity leave. For you mommies out there who work, you know what this is like….going from being a stay at home mommy to a working mommy sends you going from 50mph to 120mph in just one day.  All the responsibilities you had as the stay at home mommy are still there but work is added on top.  And…all this happens as you walk out the door each day without your baby (and preschooler) that you have snuggled and kissed all day, everyday for 3 months.  It could be depressing, it could be stressful, it can flat out put you over the edge.

I am so blessed to have three healthy children so this is the third time that I have faced this transition.  I know how hard it can be and I have absolutely refused to let the negative emotions get me this time.  I have refused to let the worries or dread of the future block my blessings in the present. I am choosing JOY and this is how….

(1) I am living in a state of thankfulness.  During the last month, two friends of mine have been diagnosed with cancer.  Now, we know that Jesus has already provided their healing so they are not keeping that cancer.  However, I cannot imagine the battle in their minds as they hear a doctor fire that horrible news at them. As I have talked to these two friends and prayed with them and for them, they have both shared with me how worries and stresses that seemed big before seem like nothing now.  One friend even said, “I used to take a lot for granted but I see things differently now.”  Oh me! How true!  And what a great reminder to me at this time in my life that this transition that I’m facing is not something to stress about.  I am healthy, my kids are healthy, and I have a great support system to take care of my babies and my house while I work (and her name is Mammaw).  I must focus on these blessings and thank God for them constantly.  Seeing these precious friends suffering over something so serious (life or death) has made me realize I really have NOTHING to worry about but only to be thankful for….

(2) I am being obedient.  During this maternity leave, I have been focusing a lot of my study time and many conversations with the Holy Spirit on finding true joy.  We live in a world where everyone is searching for joy.  They fill their lives with worldly things that satisfy the flesh hoping that they will experience joy and true happiness.  We even use our children as our avenue to experience joy.  Don’t get me wrong….children do bring a joy that is hard to describe but they are still not the way to everlasting, never failing, always present joy. There’s only one way to find this joy and it’s in Jesus. 

Now, you might be thinking…you started this section by talking about obedience…..where is this headed?  This simple sentence brings it all together and has taught me so much…..joy is found in obedience.  And, this is why….

Take a minute to think about how our natural way of finding joy includes controlling everything…we plan our social gatherings, sports, daily schedules around all the things that we WANT to do….all the things that we think will make us happy and our children happy.  

The Holy Spirit has been showing me that this is not how we experience joy.  Instead of filling our hands up with all the things we want and then closing them tight so that no one (even God) will interfere with these plans or steal our joy, we should open up our palms and allow God to fill them with blessings in the way and timing that He desires. This is difficult and requires humbling ourselves and releasing CONTROL.

Matthew 5:5 says “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.”  When you look up the original Greek word and meaning for “meek” you will find that it means a disposition of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good and do not resist.  Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. In the Greek, “blessed” means happy and to be envied and when you look up “earth” it means the main land (as opposed to the heavens). Inside this short scripture, we can learn that what makes us truly happy is putting aside our self-interest and allowing God to fill our lives with blessings as we follow Him....as we release our control to Him.  So….for me personally, I am already thankful that one of the worldly things that God has blessed me with is a good job that I enjoy and that allows for a lot of time with my children.  I will accept this blessing, humble myself, release control to God with my palms wide open and let Him continue to lavish me with His love as I work for Him each day at school. 

And…y’all it’s hard to go on from here because there is so much that the Holy Spirit has taught me about control….it’s probably another blog in itself…but before I move on….let me use a quote from a popular Christian song….in the song “Just Be Held,” the singer uses these words, “chained by control ?, there’s freedom in surrender.”  How true is this?  For so many years of my life, I kept myself from experiencing the blessings and even hindered my relationship with Jesus because I tried to control everything in my life instead of yoking up with Jesus and letting Him take control.  How foolish is this? How chained was I? No wonder I was tired in the flesh and in my Spirit all the time! I now see that I was trying to use the tiny bit of wisdom I thought I had to make decisions instead of letting the all powerful, all knowing, LOVING God with my best interests at heart lead me into all His purposes. Think about that….

Another scripture that the Holy Spirit has used to speak to me is John 14:21…but let me first begin with Galatians 5:22-23 which states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Well, as you can see, JOY is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  I want JOY to manifest in my life no matter what the circumstances so I asked the Holy Spirit….teach me how to manifest these fruits of the Spirit in my life and he answered with this scripture….

In John 14:21 Jesus is speaking and He says this, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me, will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Sometimes when we first read a scripture (especially one that we have heard before), we toss it aside and think, “Well, I’ve heard that in church for years” and then we don’t seek what the Holy Spirit is trying to really tell us.  Because I had asked the Holy Spirit a specific question, I knew there was so much more to this scripture that He wanted to teach me so I began looking up what the original Greek words meant and this is what I found…

“commandments” means “authoritative prescription”

“keepeth” means “to guard by keeping your eyes upon”

“loveth” means “to be a friend to, to have personal attachment”

“manifest” means “to exhibit in person or disclose by words”

So….when you piece all of this together in plain English this is what Jesus was saying….

If you keep your eyes upon Jesus’ commandments (through the Word of God, the Bible) and your ears upon His Spirit (always listening to the Holy Spirit), Jesus will lead you into a friendship and personal attachment to Him and out of this relationship and Jesus’ love for you, His fruits within you will manifest to you and others.  

My question was answered….if I want to constantly experience the fruits of God’s Spirit (peace, love, JOY….), I must spend time with Jesus in Spirit and in His Word and as I draw closer to Him and OBEY Him, the fruits will overflow from me. 

So…to sum it all up (sorry I got lengthy this morning)….joy comes through obedience when…..

You talk to the Holy Spirit and read God’s Word…..then….You hear, you do, you talk to the Holy Spirit about your next steps….you wait, you hear, you do, and before long you aren’t thinking about yourself, your worries, or even your next step because the Holy Spirit is guiding you. The obedience of following Jesus begins to bring forth the greatest love, joy, and peace that you could ever imagine.  His fruits (Jesus’ fruits – which simply means the characteristics of His personality) begin to manifest in all parts of your life and, as a result, joy is not based on circumstances of this world but, instead, found in the comfort of walking and talking with the Holy Spirit, the best friend you can ever have. 

On March 13^th, my circumstances in the natural will change and yes, naturally, I might shed some tears on that first day but, because my joy is not dependent on circumstances, but only dependent on His Spirit within me, my joy will remain.  I will have the privilege and blessing of carrying Jesus’ personality and power right back into my school where I can manifest and pass along His joy to others while all the time….listening to the Holy Spirit, hearing, doing, and then resting in that joy and peace that is beyond my understanding….on days where I may begin to miss the snuggles of my babies, the Holy Spirit will give me the biggest hug and snuggle that I could ever receive….because He’s always right on time!