Joy GPS

It is often said and completely true that misery loves company-but it is a state of mind that I can't wrap my head around, and I hope I never can. I am so abundantly blessed with positive people in my life that I really question how it is that I am related to some of the most negative people I know. It makes me question myself. It makes me wonder if I ever was negative like this, and most of all it shows me that God really can move if you let him.

I remember a time in my life when I was really unhappy-but I hope to God I didn't try to take other people's joy to further enhance my misery and make me feel better about myself. It seems ridiculous to me now, but I'm hoping that it was equally as ridiculous to me then. The thing about it, is that even if you rob somebody else of their joy-it's not an instant solution or location status to where YOUR's is at.

There are some people, well one person, close to me that I am constantly looking at her friends wondering why they are not as good to her as she is to them. Then I realize-they are of a like mind. She gives to them-they take from her. They are not whole-so it's easy and quite sensical to them to take and take and take, and NEVER give. And because she is in the habit of looking for attention in the wrong places-the people that give to her are the people she lashes out at because they are not taking everything they can. Isn't that sad?

I've reached a breaking point. I can't continue to show her how great she is by my actions, because they aren't appreciated. I refuse to let her take my joy or even an ounce of my happiness from me. The Joy of the LORD is my strength-so one person, regardless of who they are is not powerful enough to take that from me.

I wish there was a Joy GPS. This GPS should be free and it only requires one line.

"Your JOY is right in front of your face-PLEASE GRASP IT!"

I don't care who it is and what they are going through, we all have plenty to be joyous about. It's so not about what you're going through-it's that God trusts you to get through it. It's that he is challenging you to be BETTER, STRONGER, MORE FAITHFUL than you ever thought you could be. It's not about the "why", it's about the WHO.

I know there was a time when I would ask God why I was going through the things I was going through. And it surely did not get easier just because I was on my knees asking God to fix everything. I have come to know it's not about wanting what you want, it's about trusting God to give you what you need.

How can you not have JOY when it's not even in your hands? How can you not have JOY when you have a FATHER who is going to fix it all for you and all you have to do is believe? How can you be sad for the things you have lost when GOD is trying to show you that what he is going to help you regain is more than you could have ever thought you would have?

How can anyone live this life upset about the trials they have gone through, jealous of the people around them, drowned in negativity, surrounded by foolishness?


YOUR JOY IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE.

You can't steal my joy. I can GIVE you my joy, but the thing about it is-it doesn't take away from me-it grows within ME regardless of what you decide to do with it.

I have to laugh at attempts to bring me down.

I have to scoff at people who try to get the best of me.

I have to chuckle at those who don't understand how I can be happy in the midst of everything.

I have to wink at those who can't stand the genuineness in my smile.

Every doubt,
every fear,
every emotion,
every bad thing,
every tear I've cried,
every thing I've lost,
every hurt,
every disappointment,
every THING that ever stopped me from moving upward has been wrapped up INTO my joy and is retold in the testimony of my life. Retold in every story that I tell where the ending remains the same. God trusted ME, God used ME, God LOVES ME so much that he won't let me be just good enough-he pushes me to be better. And the only thing I had to do was believe that he would, he will, he CAN.

I can't locate your Joy for you, but the GPS can tell you where it is.

Grasp it.

Nobody can take it from you-but it will remain where it is until you take it for yourself.

RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE might seem like a long way away, but if you believe it is there, you can grasp it...

And hold onto it so tightly that it can never be taken away.

Joy that God Provides Sufficiently!!