Monday, June 18, 2012

The Sunshine of Life

Poppies in Sunshine

It is important to embrace every day as a gift from God.  Yes, we will have trials and hardships.  We will have times of sickness and times of sorrows.  There will be people who hate us and scorn us.  There will be those who spread false rumors about us.

We may be lacking in things we hold so dear, like the love of someone close to us.  Some are barren and long for children.  Some are single and long for a soul mate to share life with.  Some have illness to deal with that does not go away.

Children will be grumpy and disobedient.  Friends may forget about us and forget to call or check in on us.  People may be cruel and heartless, it seems.

Clay Road, South Melville, Prince Edward Island, Canada


Still, in all this, there is joy to be found.  There is still the sunshine that shines down on us, like a gift from our Heavenly Father.  We must be careful to find the joy that is available to us.  We should wake up and say, "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)  Regardless of how we might be feeling, we must do our duty and commit our lives to the Lord for His service.  We must press on in integrity even when people are cruel to us.  We must know when people speak evil of us, the Lord knows what is really true about us.

Take notice of the beauty in the world around you.  Is it a beautiful blue sky?  Or is it the clouds?  Is it God's gift of rain on a hot day?  Is it a tiny flower blooming in your path?  Is it the wonder of God's tiniest creatures such as the crickets my children are keeping as "pets"?  Is it the greenery in the trees that surround you?  Or is it the barrenness of the desert which amazes you when you find a living creature in it?  Whatever it is, you may always be sure to find beauty in God's creation if you will only look for it.

Mount Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia


We must set a good example for our children and show them by our actions and cheerful words how to be thankful. 

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. 
~Proverbs 15:13

All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
~Proverbs 15:15

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
~Proverbs 17:22

Please also see this encouraging post by Lady Lydia called Every Day is a Gift.

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6 comments:

  1. I am estranged from my family and my beloved and I both have numerous health issues. Yet we are joyful and happy much of the time. We have to sit quite a bit because of some health issues, so we both cross stitch and give a lot of it away. We do as much as we can and find things we can do or new ways to do it. My motto for life is this: "You don't always have a choice what happens to you in life, but you do have a choice how you react to it." I chose to be joyful and my suffering or heartache is only temporary!

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    1. How wonderful that you choose to be joyful. How different and unhappy your life could be if you did not make that choice. Your heart is in the right place!

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  2. A big "Amen" to this post. Every day I ask the Lord to help me have a merry heart, a cheerful countenance, soft answers, and the law of kindness on my tongue.
    Hope you're having a blessed week. :)

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    1. Those are such wonderful and important things to ask for. Thank you, and I hope you are having a blessed week as well.

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  3. I am trying to remember all this ~smile

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