I looked at the engraved key that was given to me and I was honestly confused! JOY. ” But I am a pretty joyful person,” I told myself as I passed my parents the key so that they could look at it.
Here is a little snippet on why we were giving the keys and the ministry behind it:
KEYS FOR THE JOURNEY!
Everyone has an area of their life in which they desire to grow. Something they want to cultivate. At the same time, the Lord is always leading us into an area of growth in our lives. The Christian life is not one of stagnation but of constant maturing. Keys for the Journey began because in order to have growth in our lives we need to be sure we are focusing on the thing we desire to grow in. Intentionally seeking the Lord and asking Him to help us in that development.
Keys for the Journey exists to empower people to journey with the Lord in a specific area of their lives. Through the wearing of a word, you carry a tangible reminder to be in prayer over that area of your life.
Once you’ve experienced the growth the Lord has for you with that word, you then hand it off to someone else. In giving the word away, you empower others so they can have their own journey with it. Keys for the Journey is about unlocking the Kingdom of God in your own life and the lives of others.
We pray over the person and will give them a prophetic word!
JOY.
I am sure if you are a friend of mine, you are probably as confused as I was. We have shared plenty of laughs together, you probably see me smiling the majority of the time……Listen, I thought I had it as well! I thought that I was a fully grown JOYFUL person! I thought that Joy was something that I had mastered. It came natural. I hung the key around my neck, not knowing what this year held for me and how the Lord was going to reveal me to me. OUCH! Honestly, I thought that this year would be CAKE… EASY!! I thought I knew myself and everything that came with MEYUNA…. oh, was I wrong! What I did not know was that the Lord was about to shake everything I thought I knew about myself. Test the very foundation that I stood on.
Did I really have JOY?
Let me take you on a swift journey of some of the hard things I dealt with this year:
- I got very sick and was admitted into a CoteDIvoire hospital after the first month of the race.
- My blood count was at a 5 ( normal is 12!) Severely Anemic. I was actually told I probably had a white blood cell disorder-like sickle cell anemia.
- I was airlifted & quarantined to a South Africa hospital awaiting my 4 blood transfusions and a few iron IVS
- I was sent home, not know if I’ll be able to return back to the mission field.
- A very nice greek Gynecologist in South Africa told me that I approximately have about 3-5 years to have children. My uterus is not very strong.
- I wasn’t fully funded. I had about $4,000 more to raise.
- Surprise! I applied for supplemental insurance 31 days AFTER I quit my job! In order to get Marketplace insurance, you have to apply within 30 days!
- Found insurance, for only $202 a month. More fundraising!
- 45 days later rejoined my squad in Togo.
- Missed majority of the MOTHERland! BOMBED!
- Was put on medication that gave me side effects of anxiety & depression ( to name a few)… side effects of the birth control … maybe?
- I am the only black person not only on my squad but have been in the country for the past 8 countries. HARD!
- I have felt left out.
- Misunderstood.
- Alone
- Singled out
- I bleed randomly and constantly
- I have had to un hear a lot of comments or thoughts.
- I have been offended
- I have cried more times this year than I have in life
James 1:2-3 ” Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
I wish I could say that “JOYFUL” Meyuna kept a smile on her face this whole year, laughed in the face of the doctors and said.. HA! I don’t care what you say about my uterus and trust GOD! I came back out on the field and LAUGHED. SMILED. AND KEPT this joyous thing up!
YEAH RIGHT!!
I was pissed. upset. ANGRY and down right MAD at GOD!! I did not feel Joyful!
Someone once told me……what’s in you will come out.
I didn’t understand.
This year I realized that the Lord was taking me on a journey of REDEFINING what having JOY actually means and looks like! It was something that I had to choose. Something I had to fight for. Something that the Lord wanted to teach me in this season! I realized that the Lord was developing in me peserverance!
The Lord was building in me something that is needed for the world, that I was carrier of what needed to be given away!
How many times have you lost your car keys? Your favorite shirt? Your cellphone? To only get frustrated because it was either in the last place you left it or buried under something!! The Lord revealed to me that JOY was with me all alone, I just had to dig for it. Find it. Redefine it! Joy looks differently in different circumstances.
The Lord revealed to me that JOY was something that he uniquely created in me to have! ALL of us to have,actually! To bring joy in other people’s situations and lives! To be a light! That he uniquely created me to be that person! However; He also revealed to me that I cant give anybody what I truly don’t authentically have!
So, friends and family, I have joy.. the LORD had to shake it out of me and teach me how to choose and fight for joy.. DAILY! It’s not a weekly or month decision, it’s a minute by minute decision! Things will SHAKE you but choosing JOY will keep you STANDING!!
This is how the Lord has redefined JOY in my life….
JOY | a feeling of great pleasure & happiness |
This year, I’ve realized that I’ve been operating in a pseudo or false sense of joy.
That Joy was found in the only person that could operate in the fullness of it! JESUS! I need to return back to the one.
JESUS IS JOY and JOY is JESUS
- • Joy isn’t contingent upon what’s happening or what happens. Joy is ever present.
- • Joy only comes from Jesus. In Jesus.
• Joy doesn’t say you always have to have a smile on your face. Joy can sometimes say, ” I am okay, with no facial expression.”
• Joy is the condition of your heart.
• Joy is WHO you keep your eyes on in the midst of the unknown, the storm, the difficult moments. Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
• Joy can look like dancing, laughing, crying, sitting in a corner, and allowing the Lord to come into those areas.
• Joy is choosing to finish strong, even when you’re ready to throw in your white towel. John 16:22 “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
• Joy is what you hold on to at the end of the day when you feel like you’ve come to the end of yourself.
• Joy is strength in GOD. ( so to others or outsiders you may look weak) but internally you’re strong!
• Joy can be present in the midst of depression and in anxiety! Proverbs 17:22 “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
• Joy is a CHOICE!
• Joy is love! Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Maybe I thought joy looked and sounded different previously! Joy is strength that is found in the Lord. Joy is running your own race, with your eyes pierced on JESUS!! Joy is inhaling the goodness of the Lord and exhaling the lies. Joy is grace. Joy is believing the best in people. Joy is people who support you constantly because they trust the God in you.
Joy is giving your key away because even though you’re not there yet, you understand the love and grace of Jesus and understand that He will always be doing a good work in your heart! As long as He is doing a good work in your heart, there is room for growth and dependence on Jesus.
So, on October 16, 2019-I gave my JOY key to a beautiful lady named Clara that my team and I met in Yocuiba, Bolivia! She teaches english at the language institute that we taught at during the week! We connected immediately as we spent time together and the Lord revealed to me that she needed a gentle reminder of where her JOY comes from!
So friends and family, where is your JOY? How does joy look for you?
I don’t have keys for all of you ( I wish I did), but I want to remind you today as you read these words, You have Joy! Joy is inside of you! Maybe you need to dig for it or run to the only person that holds it perfectly…..JESUS!
Remember, the Joy of the Lord is your strength! ( Nehemiah 8:10)
I joyfully celebrate EVERYTHING that the Lord is and has done in my life!! Yeah, parts of this year SUCKED incredibly but this has been one incredible ride!! I still cant believe that I was able to do THIS!!! WOW! God you’re so AMAZING! Thank you Jesus for entrusting me!
Friends and family, as I enter into this last month. I ask that you continually pray for me and the squad! Pray that this last month is our best month! Pray that as we end this season, we joyfully walk into next season, trusting all that the Lord has for us!
I can’t thank you enough for praying and supporting me!! I could have not done it without you!
I pray that the Joy of the Lord continues to be your strength!!
Life will ROCK you!
but, Jesus is your ROCK!
Jesus. Is. Incredible! He has completely blown my mind this year!
Love.
Meyuna
