From Junk to Joy

The other day, I was listening to a program called Woman to Woman.  The guest on the program was Debbie Holley, who has developed a class called Peace of Mind or a Mind in Pieces?  She talked about how, as women, we tend to keep a mental junk drawer of all kinds of negative things we've heard about ourselves or told ourselves.  While this does happen more with women, I do think some men do this as well.

I admit that I keep a junk drawer.  I've emptied it out from time to time because I recognize the damage it inflicts.  But inevitably, it gets filled up again, and before I realize it, I've gotten into a slump.  This junk definitely steals my joy.  What makes it worse is that I'm responsible.  I'm not responsible for what other people say to me, but I am responsible for hoarding those things, responsible for what I say to myself.  That means that cleaning out that drawer is up to me.  While acknowledging this doesn't necessarily make the clean-up easier, it signifies that this doesn't have to be a permanent condition.  I can go from a drawer full of junk to a heart full of joy.  What junk do you need to throw out?

Remember that God doesn't think negative thoughts about you, so that rubbish piling up inside comes from the enemy of souls.  "For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" Jeremiah 29:11. Our God wants to restore our joy.  It comes with peace of mind.

Aware

Something interesting that my husband pointed out is that choosing one word to focus on for the year does not instigate an onslaught of events/situations related to that word.  Instead, choosing that one word installs a filter in our lives.  All of a sudden, anything dealing with the word gets trapped via that filter, and we start to focus on these lessons God has for us.


So, it's not that I've suddenly infused joy into my life by choosing the word joy, but I can now recognize what God wants to teach me about the whole concept of joy.  What it is and what it isn't.  What the "joy of the Lord" is, and how it is my strength.


You may not be participating in a one word resolution this year, but you can still establish a filter in your life.  "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8  That, my friends, is a pretty good way to sift through all the dross that can pile up day to day.  Choose to be aware.

My Strength

As I mentioned in a previous post, my "resolution" for this year is just one word: joy.  You can read about this whole resolution revolution by visiting myoneword.org.  When I thought about a word initially, joy jumped to mind.  My instinct said "yes", but my humanness said "hold on there just one minute".  I was afraid.  I believed God wanted me to choose this word, but I was afraid.  My experience has taught me that often when we choose to work on one flaw or the other, or when we decide to take on some sort of challenge that will bring improvement to/in us, the dam breaks, and suddenly, we're overwhelmed.  But experience has also taught me that if you just hang on, things do level out.  Then you start to notice growth.

So, why didn't I remember this experience?  Well, I've struggled with tears and darkness and negativity enough to fear confronting my valleys.  And confronting them with joy?  How do I do that?  I can't.  But the Lord kept popping that verse into my head, "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).  How can I beat that.  My next question, though?  How is Your joy my strength?  How does that work?  His answer?  "Come let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18).  You want me to figure this out, Lord?  But how?  When?  Then came the peace of knowing that I didn't need to figure it out overnight, and that the God of the universe wants to spend quality time with me, teaching me to be stronger, teaching me His ways.  Wow.

The dam did break after I officially chose joy, but the good thing is that I have hope.  Watch my Facebook status for the things in which I find joy from day to day.  And check back here for a chronicle of my growth this year.  By the end, we should know how the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Simplify

Lately, my husband and I have embraced the whole notion of simplicity.  I wouldn't say we were severely complicated or materialistic before, but we've become more aware of the need to simplify.  So, when we heard about My One Word while listening to K-LOVE, we decided to pray about it.  My word is joy.  Hence, I'll be writing Joy Chronicles all year.  At least once per week, I'll let you know how it's going, what I'm learning, and so on.  You'll find them under the labels Devotionals and Joy Chronicles.

The Void in Me

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."  Psalm 16:11

Ever feel strung out and empty?  Life screeches past you like a subway train for which you can't seem to be on time?  The voices in your head get so loud that you think the only way to snuff them out is to scream, and keep on screaming?  You sit on the edge of your bed at night and wonder how the day's events prove your existence is worth it?

If you're like me, you feel this way more often than you'd like to admit.  Sure, we all have our low points. But what about that gnawing sense of purposeless existence?  The void that won't go away.  What to do about that?  Well, you can:

• drown it in a few bottles of Red Stripe
• lose it somewhere between sexual encounters
• keep it out of mind with the latest adult movie
• obliterate it in a puff of marijuana smoke
• throw a pile of projects, meetings, and appointments on it
• turn up your TV, your Ipod, or your ringtone
• read one mass market paperback after another
• go backpacking across Europe or try to find yourself in Asia
• keep yourself plugged into Facebook or Twitter
• champion the latest cause for peace
• pray it away
• fill it with church services and ministries
• scientifically prove that it's not a void at all
• blog about it till it's no longer relevant
• max out your credit card
• go to the gym twice a day
• eat it away

Or, you could snap out of it--it being your reality. None of the things in my haphazard list will heal the void.  You could search from here to Cape Town and back, and still feel empty.  If you're on the brink of giving up, that's a good place to be.  You see, that hole in your soul is really more of a God-shaped USB. If you allow the connection, your life becomes enriched, starts to make sense.  Even though I think He deserves your starting point, if you've tried everything else, why not try God?  Ask Him to lead you to Him and discover completion.  He promises that if you search for Him, you will find Him, if you do so with your whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13).  Today, if you hear His voice, don't put up a barrier; try listening (Psalm 95:7-8).  God wants a relationship with you.  Filling your life with God is not the same as allowing God to fill your life.  You have to reach the surrender point so you can recognize how much you need Him.  Then let go and free-fall into His grace.

Check out this short film done by David Asscherick and company.  Does God exist?

http://www.archive.org/details/DA-RLY