TRUTH #2: JOY is tied to our PERSPECTIVE!

Happy New Year!

Last time in this blog I talked about the link in many of our lives between our joy and the circumstances of life. The reality for many of us in life is our circumstances often have a direct impact on the joy factor in our lives. If our circumstances are positive then our lives seem to flow in the same pattern. If our circumstances are less than we might like, then our lives often reflect that reality to those around us. But that is not how life is supposed to be lived. The truth is God desires for our lives to be filled with joy. In fact, Jesus himself said that he came so that as people we might have “joy to overflowing” (John 15:11) But as I said last time, that is not the reality for people. So the obvious question that one might ask then is…

“How do we begin to walk in the kind of joy that God desires for us instead of living a life based upon the emotional rollercoaster ride of circumstance?”

Well, I believe the answer to that question is rather simple, and is found in our “perspective”. Remember in my last blog we looked at a passage from the Apostle Paul that discussed how he had learned to live life with joy despite the circumstances that might be in his life? (Philippians 4:11-13) Now, the thing that allowed him to do that was this little issue called “PERSPECTIVE”. Another way to say this might be, that it was Paul’s “FOCUS” that allowed him to look beyond his circumstances.

Look at the following verse from the pen of Paul, found in the book of Romans…

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
(Romans 8:28)

What this little verse suggests, is it was Paul’s “FOCUS” that allowed him to look beyond the stuff in his life! For Paul the secret to living beyond his circumstances in life was his focus! Paul focused on the reality that in all things, God was right there beside him, walking with him through it all. But unlike Paul, many of us are driven back and forth by the waves of circumstance in our lives simply because we believe that we are in control of our lives. Paul understood a deeper truth about life; he realized that despite appearances, he was not alone in this thing called life! Paul recognized that in all the situations in life, God was working through those circumstances according to His overall purposes. Paul was able to experience joy in the middle of many situations that would cause some of the strongest of us to run and hide, all because he understood that God was at work in everything. Paul had a deep-seated trust that through all of life’s challenges he was not alone, that God was with him working through the stuff in his life, in order to bring about long-range good, according to His purposes.

Paul’s “PERSPECTIVE” teaches us all a very important life lesson and that is…

“Our inner attitudes do not have to reflect our outward circumstances!”

Paul was full of joy because he knew that no matter what happened to him, God was with him. You know, it’s easy to get discouraged about unpleasant circumstances or to take unimportant events too seriously. If you haven’t been joyful lately, you may not be looking at life from the right “PERSPECTIVE” with the right “FOCUS”! Maybe it’s time that you followed Paul’s example and allowed God to walk with you, so that you can experience more joy in this journey called life!

Till next time…

Rev Trev