Joy

Hi everyone. I’m Sherry Douglas with Heart-Song. We prompt you to live the way you want to be remembered. This indicates living our everyday lives as though we may be experiencing our last days on earth. Living our lives as though the present moment is the most important. Living our lives as though this moment is the time of our lives – because it is.

This may sound like it’s about choosing to be happy, but this truly has nothing to do with happiness. Happiness is usually based upon circumstances in our lives. We’re happy because we’re going to be with people we love. We’re happy because we received a job promotion, or we’re happy because we bought a different house. All of those circumstances are temporary so happiness is fleeting. We may not be able to be with the people we love regularly. Tomorrow our job could be in jeopardy or the house we loved for the first few months now has issues that cause our heads to ache. Circumstances can promote happiness. Happiness isn’t bad, but it is provisional.

What if instead of happiness, we seek joy? Joy is the deep-down inside satisfaction knowing God is present. It’s trusting Him in situations that are unimaginable. It’s trusting God’s presence when life feels like it’s falling apart. It’s trusting Him to provide all that is needed to get through a specific circumstance. Unlike happiness, joy CAN grow in adversity. Happiness in the moment may be impossible, but joy is possible because it is from God. Happiness may include laughter in the moment, but joy includes confidence in the future. Happiness and joy – two very different, yet important life-giving responses. Today, choose joy!

Live the way you want to be remembered!