Consistent Joy

Consistent Joy

Sundays should be the easiest day to eat healthy but that is not the case for me. Getting dressed and ready for church services is very exhausting for me. By the time I get there, all my physical and emotional strength is depleted.
The church family where I worship is all about relationships; personal relationships with our Lord and close relationships with each other. This is why I chose this congregation of believers. They consistently express their joy openly and offer themselves as servants.

When I lost my house and had to move to a senior center 40 miles away, I visited congregations in the area each Sunday. I narrowed my choices to three locations and I could not decide. So I prayed to the Lord (like Gideon) and asked Him to show me which group I should commit to. Instead of spreading out fleece on the ground and waiting for the dawn, I called each congregation with the day of my move and waited for a call back. One group called me up and said they would help. It was the blackest, rainiest day of the year but over 30 people showed up to help me move in. They helped and laughed together and I was overwhelmed by their joyful service.

Even with all this love, I have a hard time with relationships. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall or for something bad to happen. Emotions and relationships were volatile and scary throughout my life.I know that perfect love casts out fear, which means, that I am not a very loving person.

How do I change? Steadfast and lasting love and joy comes from having a relationship with a steadfast, reliable, loving God.
"He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it!"
                                                              1 Thessalonians 5:24
Humans change all the time and their love and joy might not be constant but God is eternally consistent and loving. In Him I can be certain that my struggles to love people openly and fearlessly are just temporary. He is changing me every day and I will grow to become more like Christ.

Some things are still so hard for me to hear and accept:
God delights in His people (yes, me too)
and there is nothing that concerns us (yes, me too)
that is unimportant to Him. (Yes -Even staying getting healthy and trying to conquer emotional eating!)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin". Heb. 4:15

 The more I read about His loving involvement in my life - in the life of all He has created - the more that relationships or involvement with others produce joy. I could not have made it all day today –a day in which I was surrounded by people –if God had not been there with me. Staying on plan today, instead of leaving the potluck and then going to the store to “reward” myself for not eating potluck sweets, this was not easy! I believe that I eat healthy because I am blogging and studying His word every day.

Oh Lord, thank you for your ever present love, steadfast mercy, and the joy of salvation from dark chains of fear and temptation. God, Almighty, You are so great and gracious. You have guided me to a group of believers that never cease to sing your praises. Thank you Lord for treating me like a beloved child; instead of a desolate wanderer who gets sidetracked so easily – especially by emotional eating. Help me show others this joy that I have because of you. In Jesus name, Amen.

"All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter." Psalm 30:5