Introduction
I have been absolutely amazed in the last 8 months of
writing the literature for our small groups at how God has so clearly spoken to
me on which topic to write on each month.
They aren’t always topics that I prefer (ahem….anyone remember September’s?)
but they are necessary. I am thankful
that God knows what we need better than we ourselves do!
I am really excited about what God has for us this
month! About five years ago, I read the
book One Thousand Gifts by Ann
Voskamp. It had such a profound affect
on me that I committed to reading it at least once a year. In this book, Ann Voskamp expresses her
hunger to live her one life well. She
asks the question, “How do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama,
and daily duties? What does a life of
gratitude look like when your days are gritty, long, and sometimes dark? What is God providing here and now?”
So for the month of November, we will be focusing on how to
open our eyes to gratitude and a way of becoming present to God’s presence that
brings deep and lasting joy.
The Difference
Between Joy and Happiness
Did you know that there is a difference between joy and
happiness? I have always defined the
difference like this:
Happiness is the feeling we get when our circumstances are
favorable. Joy is a state of being
despite circumstances.
Happiness depends on our well-being. Joy depends on God.
We tend to think that our circumstances determine the
quality of our lives. So we pour our
resources into controlling all of the variables that we think will add up to
our happiness. We feel happy when things
are going well but when things don’t go as we had hoped, we despair.
1. What does happiness look like for you? Give real life examples of circumstances that
make you happy.
2. Do any of those things bring you lasting joy?
The truth is, sweet sisters, true and lasting joy can only
come from God. There are plenty of
things in this life like our houses, cars, jobs, church family, etc,. that
bring us happiness. There are also plenty
of people in this life that will also bring us happiness like our husbands,
children, grandkids, etc. But all of
things can and will fail us. Christ
never does.
My hope is that we will come away from this study knowing
that it is possible to be content in any and every situation. Our well-being does not have to depend on our
circumstances. Take a look at these
verses:
Philippians 4:12
“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to
abound. In any and every circumstance, I
have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. “
3. Give examples from
your own life when you were “brought low” but still felt the peace of God and
joy despite your circumstances.
Fight for Joy
Take a look at Philippians 4:12 again. How does all of that
relate to the day in and day out routines of life? The mundane? How does it
relate to the unpredictable troubles that we face in this life? I mean, sure, I know that Christ should be my
source of joy but I don’t always feel joyful.
In my (almost) twenty-eight years, I have come to realize
that true joy is not going to be handed to me on a silver platter. Joy is something that we must deliberately
pursue. Joy is something that we must
fight for. For the believer, joy is
always there, it just gets clouded out by trials, mundane routines, busyness of
life, etc. We live in a broken, sinful
world and there is much darkness to be seen.
The darkness is sometimes much easier to recognize than the light.
4. What are some things that steal your joy?
No matter your circumstances, for the believers in Christ,
light shines ever-so-brightly upon every one of us. It’s there-always present, but in order to
recognize it, we must train our eyes to see.
Training Our Eyes
After
reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I came to realize
that we must fight for joy through
deliberate recognition of God’s grace upon our lives. John Piper put it this way, “ If you want to
be really alert to seeing Jesus’ divine beauty, his glory…then make sure you
tune your senses to see his grace.”
We are all intended to come to Jesus like this––as a
child…to have child-like faith….to see wonder all around us. To slow down
enough to notice what is right before us. And to stand in awe of the One who
created it all for His glory and our joy. This, I believe,
is the key to experiencing life to the full. To relish in the grace of God––the
favor He continually pours upon us.
Have
you ever wondered why children seem to have an intense sense of wonder that is
lost on most adults? Have you noticed their eyes dance in amazement at simple,
little things we take for granted?
What
if we could revert back to this child-like innocence that hasn’t been marred by
the darkness of life?
The
truth is , we can! But we must start by
training our eyes to see all of the grace that God pours out all around
us.
Gratitude=Joy
When
our joy is threatened, we can usually trace it back to one thing: We have lost
sight of all the many ways we have been blessed and we focus on the
negative. Our joy begins to slowly slip
away. We become discontent.
I
like what Ann Voskamp has to say about when we find ourselves without any joy:
“The
habit of discontentment can only be driven out by hammering in one iron
sharper. The sleek pin of gratitude.”
In
the midst of trials, irritation, mundane tasks, etc., the last thing we tend to
do is focus on our blessings. But if we
are going to learn to fight for joy, we have to change our habits. And habits
are overcome by habits.
Even
in the most dire situations, all of us have things to be thankful for that we
can focus on. Philippians 4:8-9 says:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace
will be with you.”
The God of peace will be with
you.
5. What
does this verse mean to you? Has there
been a time in your life when circumstances were horrible but you found your
joy by focusing on your blessings?
Be Intentional
Ladies,
the truth is, real change takes intentionality.
And we are going to have to be intentional about fixing our mind on
God. We are actually going to have to do something.
Jean
Pierre de Caussade said this:
“When
one is thirsty one quenches one’s thirst by drinking, not by reading books
which treat of his condition.”
The
same goes for us. If we are longing for
joy, just reading this bible study is not going to quench our thirst. We are going to have to lift the cup of
gratitude to our lips and drink…
But
how do you drink the cup of gratitude in the midst of death and divorce and
debt? Is that possible?
According
to Paul, it is. Take a look at
Philippians 4:11-12 again:
“I
have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with
everything. I have learned the secret of
living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with
plenty or little.”
To
learn how to be grateful with hands full or hands empty is the key to joy. Will you take the journey with me?
The Power of Writing Things
Down
Ann
encourages others to begin to list each and every grace, or gift, seen in our
lives and in the world around us. We
must list our gifts so we might properly recognize them.
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen.”
(Martin Luther)
So in the midst of list-making-season, I challenge you to make a different list that
your probably haven’t ever made before….A Gratitude List.
I keep mine in a journal that I have entitled
“Evidences of Grace”. When I first took
Ann’s challenge 5 years ago to literally count my blessings, I had no idea that
it would be so life changing. The joy
that came from listing my blessings amazed me.
I had no idea that taking the time to really focus on all the things
going on around me would bring me so much joy…to be really present in all the
moments…to be all there…so often we do not fully know how truly blessed we are
because we do not “live in the moment”.
We are so distracted by a million other things vying for our attention,
that we do not give enough attention to the little details. …We do not realize
that God’s fingerprints are on everything.
We miss out on so many blessings.
We miss out on so much joy.
The Challenge
For the rest of November, pray that your eyes be
opened to all grace––in, through, and around your life. Number the ways God has
been good to you. Recount His deeds. His creation.
Today, set aside time to begin a journal. Begin counting the gifts
you’ve been given because, after all, everything is from the Lord. And all is
grace, even that which appears to harm us will ultimately be used for our
good. So count them. Count them
today, tomorrow, and every day henceforth––giving thanks to the One from whom
they’ve been given. To the One who loves you immeasurably more than you will
ever conceive.
Let
us practice thanksgiving. Let it not be something we think about merely one day
each year on Thanksgiving Day, but let us become a people known for our
thankful hearts. Let us become a people known for our joy….Joy that can only
come from God.
And
in case you need some help starting your gratitude journal, let me get you
started with three things that you have to be thankful about:
1. God is with you and will watch over you wherever you go
2. He
will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches
3. Nothing
in all creation will be able to separate you from His love
In Christ,
Julia Rogers
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