How can I have a merry heart when that heart is broken?

Today's Precious Prodigal Post is at = http://bit.ly/1uFvxaH How can I have a merry heart when that heart is broken? #LightenUp Like what you see? Please "Like" us and "Share" this post with FB!

Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

There were several of us sitting around a table, and my friend Janna was talking about what a tough week it had been. She finally said, “God is still good, and I’m sorry if I sound like Job-ella,” an obvious reference to Job in the Bible. Her daughter Karinna thought about that for a minute then threw her head back and filled the entire room with her contagious laughter! It was pure delight, unmixed with sorrow, and all our hearts were lighter for it.

That’s a lot different response to life’s circumstances than that of a woman I knew several years back. Her son and his wife had lost custody of their kids, and the grandmother was devastated. I can understand that. What I couldn’t understand, however, is why she told everyone, including her grandchildren and me, that she wouldn’t celebrate Christmas or any holiday again until they came home. Say what?

Looking at circumstances with two different viewpoints isn’t all that remarkable, is it? But when you know the people involved, it goes off the chart. You see, that grandmother is healthy and has every reason to live a full, rich life. While that one part of her life was hard, it was or at least should have been only a part. She had much to be thankful for and was either too foolish or too selfish to see it.

On the other hand, my precious and beautiful friend Karinna has Cerebral Palsy, and not one part of her journey is easy. For her, each day includes a wheelchair, a feeding tube, and the inability to speak. Yet I’ve never heard about a complaint from her or seen her without enthusiasm and excitement or without her engaging smile.

I truly believe the difference here can be found in what Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Many…maybe even most…of the circumstances that come into our lives are out of our control. And there are things we cannot change no matter how desperately we wish we could.

A quiet acceptance of those things doesn’t mean we’ve quit or been defeated. It means we’ve turned them over to the One who can do something about them. Trusting God to work them out according to His will and letting go of them will free us up to work on the things we can change and to pursue the things that bring us joy.

If you’re like me, there are days when you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances. But letting those circumstances consume you is your choice just as it’s mine. There will always be parts of my life I wish were different. However, letting those parts define the whole of my life is foolish to the extreme.

The sunrises are beautiful, the taste of cold water is sweet, and God is still on His throne. And focusing on what I have rather than what I’ve lost will give me back my joy.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, decided to look for the joy in our lives?