Misled away from Joy

 

J is for Jesus

 

 

 

O is for Others

 

 

 

Y.....Y.....Y....Y..... is for You, yOu, yoUUUU

& because I sometimes I try to do things upside down, backwards, a little different from the norm and on my own

it only seems right that the caterpillars in my house would do the same.

So YOU can decide which Y you most enJOY to complete your JOY



I thought I could sit down for a quick second or two

And blog about how easy it is to find Joy

If a few caterpillars can spell it out, how hard can it be?

I will let you in on a little secret......

This morning it seemed difficult.

I read about Joy even in Sorrow.

Joy even though I have not seen what has been promised

Endurance, patience, and joyfully waiting.

I was looking for the fast food type Joy.

Order.....Receive

No waiting, endurance or suffering required.

Then I stumbled upon James 1:16

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

For a few moments this morning I had been deceived.

I had set out to find joy spelled out for me.

Neon Sign JOY.

Mountain top JOY

After all if caterpillars can spell it out for me, shouldn't God plop it into my life everyday?

I even imagine God asking if I would like my Joy super sized today.

The answer is.

He does.

In two verses God simply...... almost sneakily reveals the answer to finding Joy

I just miss it.

I miss it because it is not spelled out in Neon.

He does plop it down in front of me though.

Everyday.

God gives me good and perfect gifts.

I just needed to be reminded to stop for a second and look around ....

Look around. Not for the one gift too large to carry.

Look around.

Grab on to the little gifts that are all around.

The verse reminds me God does not change .......the perfectly good gifts are all around.

They always have been

They will never go away either.

BONUS!

My job is to see the gifts.

Collect and acknowledge them

Then I will become refreshed in JOY

The Joy of a summer mist will suddenly become the downpour my parched heart yearned for.

His light shone through this mornings darkness to reveal how quickly shadows can shift here on earth and lead me away from the good

It almost begins to stir a little mountain top Joy in my heart.

SIDE NOTE:

My 10 year old is upstairs right now attempting to set up a garage sale fro Thursday and Saturday. Mind you, I wanted no part in set up, pricing or carrying out this adventure. But, I am the mom and sometimes we get to participate in these things by default. I promise. I will open my eyes up very wide and try to see the good gifts God is revealing to me even in what I perceive as suffering ;)

After all I did find Joy spelled out by a few caterpillars.