Joy

I was going through my journal today and was reminded of this story from a year ago.

Today I had the privilege to talk to a man with down syndrome while standing in line at the grocery store and it was the highlight of my day. He told me that the house he is living in is for sale but that everything was on hold because the recent storm dropped a tree on the roof. I immediately thought; what a pain that would be while trying to sell your home, so much hassle, time, and effort with insurance. His response put my thoughts to shame. He didn’t speak about it as a negative thing, quite the opposite. He said with great enthusiasm that “it’s great because now whoever buys the house will have a new roof”, and “the best part of it all was that I got to see a fire truck up close!”

It was a great reminder to me, and I hope to you too. That no matter what difficulties/hardships we are experiencing in our lives, our perspective of them is important. As Christians, we should view things from a kingdom perspective and not a worldly one. Pressure at work, strained relationships, health issues, and financial difficulties are troubles of this world. The worldly view causes us to want to grasp for control, causing stress and anxiety. The kingdom view helps us submit and give up control to our sovereign God which results in hope and joy that others can see.