April 12, 2012

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,

But when the heart is sad, thy spirit is broken.

Proverbs 15:13

Thoughts~

Do you ever feel like you are on an emotional ferris wheel? I sure have. When the basket is at the top of the wheel, our hearts are happy and our faces reflect our cheerful hearts. People naturally gravitate towards people who are happy and smiling, wanting to spend time with them. However, slowly the wheel begins to move and before we know it, our basket is at the bottom and we are feeling sad and broken.

The good news is God does not allow us to stay on the bottom too long. He doesn’t want us there anymore than we want to be there because He uses our joyful heart and cheerful face to bring people to us, and, therefore, to Him.

One day a couple of weeks ago I was feeling such incredible joy over the way the Trust in the Lord Facebook page was growing (facebook.com/TrustHimAlways).

Suddenly, I was blindsided by the enemy of God as he ran by, as quick as a flash fire, and robbed me of my joy by tossing negativity and troubles in my path. My faith wasn’t affected, just my joy. That is why we must trust the Lord with faith and not by the way we feel.

A lot of scripture speak of joy and sadness in the same verse. Snoopy and Charlie Brown were dancing with joy (in yesterday’s blog) after a time of sadness. I wanted to dance right along with them! But what we need to remember above all else, is that we can always find joy in the Lord, even when we are sad. No matter what yuck is affecting my life, when I look straight ahead at God, my joy in the Lord brings hope to my heart. Let’s be examples of people who trust the Lord with ALL of our heart, even when sadness is surrounding us.

Action~

For those of you who love visual reminders like I do, print out the ferris wheel picture that is at the bottom of this post. Tape it somewhere that will remind you that there are always going to be ups and downs in your life, happy times and sad times.  Just as Ecclesiastes tells us, there is a time for every season. The ferris wheel reminds me of the seasons in our lives. During the down times, I honestly feel closer to God because I spend so much more time in prayer. So for that, I can be thankful there are down times as well as the high on top of the ferris wheel times.

Pray~

Lord thanks so much for bringing joy into my heart. I need it so much.  Help me to trust You when times are sad, knowing You will use these times for my good. Bring back the cheerful face that can be used to attract others to a life worth following.

Trusting the Lord,

Becky