Quick Change

On the surface most of us don't have a lot of reasons to be joyful. Finances are tight, jobs are uncertain, self-esteem is shaky, our parenting is inadequate, our health is unstable, and our future is cloudy. We can find more things to complain about (ie. government, church, community) than we can find to be encouraged by. If you observe our history you see that things really haven't changed. There has always been inequity, oppression, stupidity, selfishness, turmoil, and illness littered throughout the lives that have come before us. What has made us believe that things should be different for us?

Circumstances may not change, but our reaction to them certainly can. We have the opportunity to wallow in bitterness or ask God to transform our attitude. When have I allowed God to turn my sorrow into joy? When have I allowed Him to change my perspective on my circumstances so that I might see Him at work? When have any of us shifted the weight of our present status so that it no longer burdens us, but becomes light as we experience His deliverance? Our confidence and hope must be centered in a King that has shown His benevolent and merciful character to us throughout history. Our confidence in His great unchanging love is the key to the change of heart necessary for us to be joyful when it seems to make no sense.