Stop Complaining - Choose Joy

​​Let's face it... This world really does give us LOTS to grumble about... it's NOT ‪‎perfect! No one in it is perfect, things don't go according to 'plan' and there's ALWAYS something that makes us go "ugh!".
 
With an attitude of gratitude, we can change our perspective and we can choose to see the good. We can see God's hand

on everything.  We can look at a situation and ask "ok, what are you trying to ‪‎teach me here?". 
 
Storms come and things happen.  The enemy is always waiting for us to change our course, take our attention off of God and put it on our problems.  We can think of everything bad that has happened during the day or we can reflect on the good stuff – the things we did well, the way others may have blessed us, etc.  Being grateful, praising and thanking God, really does change our world.  The world around us may rage on, but inside, thanks to gratitude, we can live in peace.
 
You can ask how that can be; you don’t know what they did to me or how I was treated.  And you’re right, I don’t.  But how did you handle it?  Did you bite back?  Did you put boundaries in place?  Did you walk away?
 
God is more interested in our own actions, our own motives, our own hearts, than He is of ‘the other’.   We can allow others to steal our joy and peace by focusing on them, or we can allow God to restore our joy and peace by focusing on Him. 
 
For us, as Believers, everything has a reason, a purpose and all things work to our good in His will, and it’s not something that we may necessarily understand at the time.  But if we believe God’s word when He says ALL things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), we don’t need to understand in order to trust.
 
We can choose to not only ‪‎praise Him in the storm but FOR the storm, because when we stand in ‪faith and walk through the fires that we face, we are cleansed, ‪renewed, redeemed, and come out the other side even more ‪‎glorified than we were before.
 
God is always with us. He is always listening to us. He is always answering us. He is always ‪faithful and will deliver.
 
With God's perspective on my life, no matter what I face, I can choose to be joyous! Psalm 30:11 says: You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with ‪joy. So, believing God's word, which is my rock, I choose today to be joyous knowing that He hears me and He's with me.
 
Today, choose Joy! Reach for your music, play your favorite worship songs/cd, dance and praise! Praise ‪Jesus for all He has done! Praise God for all He is doing! Choose Joy no matter what you face - and ‪‎God, who does work all things for our good - WILL deliver on His promise!