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Let’s talk about 4 things to help us deal with anxiety and how we can be joy[full] and optimistic no matter what. What do we do when we’re facing a tough season of life where it’s hard to be joyful? Where we may be experiencing grief, anxiety, or just plain boredom. We’ll talk more in-depth about grief in a later episode because there is much more to it.
I remember being in labor at the hospital scared to death about what I was about to face lol. It’s funny but it wasn’t at the time. Labor was brutal, sending me to the bathroom every few minutes.
While I was in the bathroom trembling with fear, pain, or a combination of both, the words “Let Hope Arise” came to mind. I muscled up enough strength to say the lyrics out loud and immediately I felt peace and joy rush over me. I’m not sure where the song came from but I could hear it vividly in my mind. Y’all have to listen to this live recording of this worship service that has “let hope arise” in the lyrics if you need hope again if you need a breakthrough, very powerful.
This year my focus is on being joy[full].
The past couple of years has been a challenge but in a good way. I became a mom, we navigated through covid, and I was pushed like I never have been before.
Being a mom is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’ve been through some hard stuff. I also wouldn’t trade it for the world and love my sweet pea so much. I now understand what moms say when they say being a mom is very difficult but also very rewarding.
Life is so short and I choose to enjoy it.
Kahlil Gibran said, “the optimist sees the rose and not its thorns. The pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose”.
Photo by Anthony: Pexels
So again I’ll ask you, are you a rosy or a thorny type of person? So many people seem to be struggling with anxiety today. Our world is hurting, people are hurting. We live in a sinful and fallen world with imperfect people. All we have to do is open up our phones and see comments on posts full of negativity.
People are ruthless and very pessimistic a lot of times. It’s no wonder that so many people are suffering from anxiety and depression. No, I’m not saying that there can’t be chemical imbalances because there can. I’m saying, for the most part, if we want to be joy[full], it takes looking for the positive in every situation we face.
This season of my life is full of joy. I have a wonderful husband, EagleGarrett. I have a beautiful daughter PrincessEagle. We have the best family, friends, and communities ever.
But what do we do when we’re facing a tough season of life where it’s hard to be joyful? Where we may be experiencing grief, anxiety, or just plain boredom… Can we still choose to be joy through the tears and pain?
Here are 4 ways to help break us out of the anxiety spiral
- Look for the positive
- Be thankful to God in everything
- Know that God will work things out for the good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28)
- God will give us a double blessing for what was lost?
“Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I can’t say that I’ve achieved this mature stage of being able to give thanks to God for everything or I’d be lying. Being thankful for even bad things is definitely against my nature and I’m sure yours too.
I came across this song that really ministered to me called “With Everything” by Hillsong United. It’s a powerful song played live in Miami in this video and what moves me most watching and listening to this is in between the lyrics where the crowd is singing to the Lord without words. Sometimes words are just not enough and can’t express what we’re going through but God knows and sees our pain.
If we have no hope and joy, our spirits will be down, really down. When we have thankful hearts to the Lord and even continue to worship Him in the middle of our pain, we can’t help but be joy[full] which will, in turn, strengthen us.
“Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
How does joy give us strength? I believe that first, we must have hope that will, in turn, produce joy. Hope that we’ll see our loved ones again in heaven. Hope that we will get through a tough time and be stronger for it. Hope that God is in control and will make a way where it seems there is no way.
We either believe the Bible or we don’t. When we hear the verse that God will turn around what was meant to harm us into something good, we can laugh and shrug it off or we can believe it.
The Lord knows what we need. He sees what we are going through and won’t give us more than we can handle. He will help us through. But while we’re in the middle of a tough time or waiting on answers, we can still choose joy. We can have an optimistic perspective even if we aren’t generally that type of person.
I’m not saying that our feelings and troubles aren’t valid, of course, they are. And it’s okay to share those feelings with close trusted people who can listen to us vent and also give us some much-needed encouragement.
What I’m saying is that we can still choose joy and be hopeful in every circumstance. If I can choose to be hopeful while being in labor for 24 hours, you can choose it too!
It doesn’t mean I was smiling the whole time and wasn’t miserable. It means I relaxed my body and let the pain run its course and did my best to trust the Lord through the process. I knew that God was going to bring something good out of my labor and pain.
He can do the same for you.
Let’s talk about this double blessing for what we lost. Why am I saying that and what does it mean? There was this guy you might have heard about Job. Job lost his money, his workers, his family, his property, and his own health was suffering. Despite all of this he didn’t blame God for His trouble instead He praised and thanked God.
Job fell down to worship and said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”
Then people who he thought were his friends started to blame him for bringing this suffering on himself and to curse God and die. His not so better half, his wife, even jumped in on the action. It seemed like everything and everyone was against him. He had lost everything.
Was he perfect and never complained or talked about his pain? Of course not. But he continued to trust the Lord and give thanks to Him even in the middle of his catastrophe and pain. What happened to poor old Job? The Lord restored him and gave him a double portion
“The Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!”
His relationships were restored. His body was restored. He had more sons and daughters and his profits were doubled. We have to remember to be like Job in the face of adversity and loss, persevering to the end believing and trusting God. Giving thanks to the Lord in the middle of a storm.
Are we guaranteed to get a double blessing as Job did? I’m not sure and that’s not the point of the story. I believe everything will be restored and we will get this double blessing from the Lord. But it may not happen on earth. It will certainly happen in heaven where our souls will live on forever.
We can still have peace and joy in the middle of hardships. We can still have joy during the boring and mundane moments of life. It will take extra, intentional effort but it can be done and it is well worth it.
I really hope that you’ll choose to be intentionally joy[full] this year on the daily. It has already transformed my could’ve been miserable days into enjoyable ones. I hope it will do the same for you!
A Prayer For You
Lord Jesus, you know us and see what we’re going through. It doesn’t take you by surprise. Please Lord restore hope in our hearts and minds. Thank You that Your strength is enough for us in our weakness. We need You, Lord. Please move on our situation and bring us peace and joy no matter what. We choose to be thankful and worship You through our boredom, through our busyness, and through our pain. Thank you for restoring our hope in You and in You alone. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Stay hopeful and stay rosy my friends!
If you have a story of hope during a difficult time, please share it in the comments below as a testimony to other people!
