I will be in the States in 35 days. I know the plethora of questions will come when I get home, and I want to be able to answer them as best as I can put into words. So I’ve begun reflecting over this year and over all the Lord has taught me. And let me tell you, it’s been a lot. Maybe I will write a blog about all of it at the end once I’ve processed a bit more. But until then, I wanted to touch just a little on one of the biggest things that I have learned: J O Y
As expected, this year has been the craziest of my 22 years thus far. There have been high highs and low lows. I’ve witnessed really hard things and had my heart burdened more than ever. From the very beginning, I knew that this year would be what I made it. I may not be able to control my circumstances most of the time, but I will always always be able to control my outlook on them. And I made it a goal to go through each day with joy, no matter what happened.
This has not been easy. Nor have I completely succeeded. But from this goal, I gained a new perspective.
As humans, usually our joy is easily influenced by our circumstances. When everything is going right and life is great, it’s pretty easy to have joy. But when the hard things start happening, I think joy is one of the first things to go. It is then replaced with impatience, annoyance, frustration, negativity.
I don’t think uncircumstantial is a word. But it just seemed like the only word that could really capture the kind of joy I have challenged myself to find this year: joy that is not determined by circumstances.
The Christians that I have encountered this year taught me this above anything else. Most come from the hardest of situations: the slums in Bangkok, remote villages in Lesotho, trash dumps in Manila. Yet they are always lighting up with a smile and are never hesitant to give the Lord the praise He deserves. They have nothing, yet rejoice as if they have everything. Because what truly brings them joy cannot be defined by circumstances.
I’ve realized that it doesn’t really matter where we are, what we have, or what we are doing. We could be working a 9-5 job in America or running a massive ministry in the middle of Africa. The joy that we carry wherever we go is what will make the difference. That is how we will represent Christ. That is how we will impact the world around us for the Kingdom.
We don’t serve a circumstantial God, so we shouldn’t have a circumstantial joy. Just like the God we serve, our joy should be boundless.
“Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One!” Philippians 4:4 TPT
