I think something we all need to get ahold of is that we don’t need to be either joyful or suffering. We can have a deep joy in the midst of hard things and we can have empathy for people in hard times, even when we are full of joy.
I have had enough hard times that I do understand when someone is going through a hard time. I think that’s why we may need to go through a hard time every once in a while just to keep us grounded. I know that doesn’t sound very popular but it’s real easy to take off in our own little positive cloud if we don’t stay grounded.
We do have to learn to walk in the supernatural realm to have peace in the midst of a storm or trial. There are many of them going on in our world…we have to have joy in our soul and in God’s promises not in the things that we see. We can enjoy the things we see for a time but not forever! And it is good to enjoy good things.
We don’t go through wonderful things to take off and leave troubled people behind us in the dust. We go through wonderful things to be able to help bring them up higher also. But, they have to pick it up and run with it themselves, we just can’t do it for them. There is a balance in the whole thing.
We were eating lunch outside yesterday and two homeless people came by at separate times to talk to us… both of them were stuck and full of excuses. There is nothing we can do about what someone wants to think. We can give them a couple of bucks but until they change their thinking, we can’t change their life. We even mentioned to them getting on a bus and going to a place with more opportunities, but no that’s not what they wanted, they wanted $2.00 to make it through the night. I can’t judge that but I can learn from it…I don’t want to be stuck in mindsets that leave me stuck, I want to keep moving forward!! I don’t want to depend on someone else to pull me out!! A slogan I learned in recovery, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” That is a true statement… that’s not to leave out God or Jesus that’s just to say that I can’t make it if I don’t make the choice to grab ahold of opportunities before me.
So happy for wonderful, wonderful days but also so happy that I have learned that when I am weak, HE is strong!! I reached out to His hand and He pulls me out of the pit time and time again!! But I have to keep reaching!!
The JOY of the Lord is my strength!!
He restores my soul!!
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil!!
These things are my reality!!
See you soon!!❤️