Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
When we plan our lives, we don’t really have a lot of control over what happens. However, we can control how we react to what happens in our lives. As most of you know, about 8 years ago my husband was diagnosed with dementia. We definitely had not planned for that, since we hadn’t even planned on a date or time to retire (we were self-employed). However, we realized God had different plans. We had an abundance of new challenges given to us and with God’s direction and help from a lot of our church family, I made it through. The picture above is of the sign I have hanging over my front door. My daughter gave it to me during this time, and we thought by putting it over the front door I would see it every day reminding me to “find joy”.
I learned a long time ago an acronym for Joy… Jesus Others You. It helps me remember Joy, putting Jesus first, others second, and me last. If we put Jesus first in our lives, we can’t help but find JOY. Like I said, those five years were not easy, but I did find joy. I learned how to trust Jesus every minute and hour of everyday. I also learned patience….that took a while. I don’t know how people do life without Jesus. So, I pray you all will take the time to find Joy in your life’s journey. God has a complete understanding of the human experience which brings us comfort and guidance.
And just another blessing to add to this… When Ed was on hospice care the last four months, his amazing home health aide that came to our home three days a week….her name was Joy!
Heavenly Father, help us to find joy, the real JOY that comes from Jesus being the Lord of our lives knowing he will provide for all our needs when we earnestly seek Him. Thank you, for always being there, and always hearing us. It is your light in our lives that brings us true joy. Amen