Joyful.

What does a joyful life look like? Is it free from the turbulent winds of conflict? Are the waves of adversity absent? Or is it a choice to live a joy filled life in the midst of the wind and waves? Oddly enough my journey to joy came through sacrifice. When I chose to lay EVERYTHING down at God's feet is when I truly began to live joyfully. I made some very hardline decisions and through those I discovered that joy isn't found in the areas that I lived in the gray. But the very instant that I sacrificed the gray and made choices that I knew brought honor to God is the exact moment that I discovered joy. It is completely illogical to think that by causing yourself more "pain" you will actually discover joy but there is very little that is logical in the Kingdom. I can assure you that in the midst of the wind and the waves you can be joyful. But it only comes from trusting God to turn your sacrifice, your pain, into something more beautiful than you could ever imagine. But He can't give you joy if you are holding onto bitterness, forgiveness, regrets or used-to-be's. So I encourage you, lay it all down at God's feet and trust that He will turn your sorrows into gladness, your regrets into hope, and your used-to-be's into better than you imagined. It can't be a partial decision, a well maybe I will give up a little and see if I get a little joy. It is a full fledged, reckless abandon, lay it all down and walk away move. That is where joy is found. That is where chains of bondage are broken. That is where captives are set free. In that moment is where God shows up. Maybe He hasn't shown up because you haven't let Him. What good would it do for Him to show up only to be told that you don't trust Him? He gives us the power to choose. So what will you choose, joy in midst of the storm or tossed about with the wonder and the waves?