Inspired by . . . Day 23: Balancing JOY and sorrow
This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY
You may access all the past days by clicking here.
O Lord, you know what I long for; you hear all my groans.
My heart is pounding, my strength is gone,
and my eyes have lost their brightness. Psalm 38:9-10
I’m so thankful for the ability our minds have to remember. Without it our world would be a very different place. On the one hand, we might be in a constant state of JOY of discovery. Other the other, we may know only sorrow and pain.
When darkness comes near, and all seems hopeless and lost, we have the ability to remember. We can bring to mind the JOY of past experiences; remind ourselves of God’s promises. We can remember that He is faithful and true. That He will never leave us or forsake us.
Our memories are powerful messengers of JOY!
How much misery a human heart can stand, and how much JOY!
If we lose the power of turning from one to the other,
we upset the balance. God’s Spirit restores and keeps the balance right.
We are all going through something. Our situation and circumstances are as unique as we are. Assuming that destructive behavior is not an issue, we should all extend to one another the grace to deal with our circumstances in our own way, in our own time. There is not always a “bright side.” We all grieve, ponder and work through things differently.
Preaching the gospel of “cheer up,” when a person cannot cheer up.
Telling him to look on the bright side of things when there is no bright side
is as ridiculous as telling a jelly-fish to listen to one of Handel’s Oratorios.
So friends, let us preach the gospel of the grace of God,
to others as well as ourselves.
Only the grace of God will alter us
and produce a
well-spring of JOY!
Blessings,
Quotations taken from Biblical Psychology, © Discovery House Publishers
#write31days
Sharing inspiration here:
What a wonderful way to look at memories,... to use them to remember joy and blessings. I'm very fond of them myself ;)
ReplyDeleteWise words about memories and extending grace!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photography and lovely insightful post ~
ReplyDeleteartmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)
Very true. I'm thankful that joy can be attained even when happy cannot.
ReplyDeleteWe all have those "valley" times and it's hard to see past that. Great pearls of wisdom here, especially that we all go through similar periods in our lives, and we all have unique ways of dealing with it.
ReplyDeleteThose photos are so cool. And your post, sigh, perfect.
ReplyDelete