This was a hard week. It's hard to imagine "joy" in the midst of hard times. Yet some of us are eternal optimists. Some of us avoid reality by pretending to be optimists and filled with crazy faith. Some of us really are filled with crazy faith. Others just don't get, can't imagine it and aren't sure they ever will. In our little group I would say there were women in every phase of joy. Yes, truthfully we have a sister in Christ who can't imagine ever feeling joy again and says "I'm okay with that."
We talked alot about expectations and comparing. It's really dangerous to look at someone else and think I'm not as good or happy or bad or whatever as them. Jesus never tells us to look at each other. He does, on the other hand, tell us to look to God. We looked at a passage in Hebrews 12:2-3. I've been reading it in the Amplified Version. Let me share a bit of it: "Looking away (from all that will distract) to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith....He, for the joy (of obtaining the prize) that was set set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame.... The first point and to me the most important is that we are to look at, focus in on God. We need to see life through the lens of God. Is that easy? Is it natural? No. Is it doable? Yes. Pray. Pray repeatedly. Ask God to help you see life through His perspective. Start the day and pray as often as you need to re-focus through out the day. How do I know He will answer? These verses tell us He is the "author and perfecter" of our faith. HE is our creator. He not only created us. He continues to create our maturing into His likeness. HE gives us perspective, joy, faith, love. We can't do it ourselves and it only gets harder when we look at others and think we need to be "like them."
Relax today. Ask God to help you see life through His perspective. Ask Him to help you experience joy and then watch for the answer. Be alert. Expect God to answer you but be aware He is "far beyond all that we ask or even think." (Ephesians 3) His answer very well may be different that the way you "expect" it to be. If you have already experienced an awareness of God's perspective at some point in your life we'd love to hear about it. Share it with us. You can encourage others.
We talked alot about expectations and comparing. It's really dangerous to look at someone else and think I'm not as good or happy or bad or whatever as them. Jesus never tells us to look at each other. He does, on the other hand, tell us to look to God. We looked at a passage in Hebrews 12:2-3. I've been reading it in the Amplified Version. Let me share a bit of it: "Looking away (from all that will distract) to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith....He, for the joy (of obtaining the prize) that was set set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame.... The first point and to me the most important is that we are to look at, focus in on God. We need to see life through the lens of God. Is that easy? Is it natural? No. Is it doable? Yes. Pray. Pray repeatedly. Ask God to help you see life through His perspective. Start the day and pray as often as you need to re-focus through out the day. How do I know He will answer? These verses tell us He is the "author and perfecter" of our faith. HE is our creator. He not only created us. He continues to create our maturing into His likeness. HE gives us perspective, joy, faith, love. We can't do it ourselves and it only gets harder when we look at others and think we need to be "like them."
Relax today. Ask God to help you see life through His perspective. Ask Him to help you experience joy and then watch for the answer. Be alert. Expect God to answer you but be aware He is "far beyond all that we ask or even think." (Ephesians 3) His answer very well may be different that the way you "expect" it to be. If you have already experienced an awareness of God's perspective at some point in your life we'd love to hear about it. Share it with us. You can encourage others.
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