Maybe
God is trying to tell me something. Maybe He’s telling me that I need to be
more joyful reminding me that I am a representation of Christ while I’m at home
or out there in the world. And, He is right. I surely am a representative of
His. I am a chosen child of God and I must behave and carry myself accordingly.
And, to be a child of His is a true blessing—this calls for a joyful heart. I
can always work on myself and get closer to that joyful always part. I can make a conscious decision to do what God
says and acknowledge my dependence on Him and when this happens, my perspective
will change for the better.
I
must admit that I can certainly be a joy stealer. It is so easy to go there—to be
negative, to complain about anything and everything from my one-and-a-half hour
commute, to my 12-hour workday, to the assignments I get at work, to not
getting enough time to be with my family…and the list just goes on.
I
am guilty of being that whiner to my poor husband when I get home from work. I
would tell him, “I’m tired. I’ve worked all day and was on the road for three
hours. Just need to go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow.” In other
words, leave me alone. See how easy that was? I am so guilty of this and after
I have said this to the guy who proclaims his love for me every day, waiting
for me to arrive home safely from work with a smile on his face and “baited-breath”
(as he likes to call it), I feel so bad. I regret saying that to him. And, it’s
something that I can’t take back. I can apologize, but it is only meaningful
and sincere if I purposefully and intentionally change from the negative,
joy-stealer to a joyful person. It’s not that hard to reciprocate that joy that
he gives me when he finally gets to see me again after 15 to 16 hours of being
gone. And this, sisters, is happening at home—I must change my attitude
starting inside my home to the world.
If
we are representatives or ambassadors of Jesus Christ the Risen and Saving One,
in other words, the dictionary defines an ambassador as a person who acts as a
representative or promoter of a special activity and in this case, that ‘special
activity’ is Jesus Christ…then we must portray ourselves, behave, and act as
such.
We
can make that decision today and everyday to “rejoice always, pray continually,
and give thanks in all circumstances”. My attitude has changed before I hit the
road every morning to work from: “great…here we go again…not looking forward to
this traffic…” to praising God for giving me a job to look forward to—a place
where I can use and explore my talents and gifts that God has given me, for the
long commute so that I am able to listen to amazing Christian influencers on
the radio like Chip Ingram and Ravi Zacharias, then singing along to worship
songs by Christian artists like David Crowder and Lauren Daigle.
How
my perspectives change when I turn negative thoughts and energy into joyful,
thankful, and prayerful ones! And, when this happens, that joy is contagious
spreading to the important people in my life like my husband and daughter. They
appreciate seeing that and most of all, God loves seeing a joyful heart. He
loves to hear us giving thanks and praying to Him because prayer is the line
that we use to connect with God and to build a relationship with Him. He is so
eager to be our friend.
