There were many things happening in the past few months and though I was excited and thankful, I also experienced certain things that caused me to be discouraged. At the end of 2012, like some of you, there was also an unfulfilled wish in my life. When I heard a testimony of how the Lord came through for this sister in fulfilling two of her wishes on 27 Dec, I had mixed feelings. It was contradictory because while I thank God for His faithfulness, I was also wondering why the Lord has not come through for me in the eleventh hour, like He did for this sister. But the Lord has already done so many marvelous things for me this year. He answered my wishes that were not yet fulfilled in previous years.
Well, I have a choice. I can continue to wallow in the question 'Why God, why?', which will get me nowhere except depressed or I can choose to put the past disappointments behind me and let it all go. After all, these incidents are all over and the year 2012 has passed. I could never go back to the past and change things. A new year, a new season has dawned. Why not look forward to the wonderful future God has prepared for us? If your three wishes have not yet materialized in that year, don't be discouraged. It simply means that your fullness of time has not come yet. But that does not mean that these wishes will never come to pass in the future, in the coming year.
For example, writing and publishing a book was one of my three wishes in 2011. Even though the manuscript was mostly completed in Sep 2011, doors to publishing my book were not opened yet. I kept asking God to open the doors to publishers then but it did not happen. Had I gotten discouraged and given up on this promise, the book would not have become a reality. And God is faithful. He did not let me wait too long. Just two months into 2012 and He started opening the doors for publishers! It was considered fast...I know some people took years to finish writing their books and getting it published. The lesson I learnt was that even if this wish did not come to pass in 2011, it did not mean it would never happen. Indeed the Lord showed me that 2012 was the right time for this book to be published. My wish to publish a book was fulfilled not in 2011 but in 2012.
Dear beloved, no matter how disappointed you feel or how discouraging your situation may be, God always has a way to turn it around. It may not be according to your timetable but in my case, He also did not let me wait too long. We can face 2013 discouraged, dragging our feet wondering why God did not come through for us or we can decide to rejoice in the Lord for He is good. I found out that joy is a decision. It does not have to depend on my circumstances. As I was feeling a little discouraged at the start of 2013, waiting for the Lord to bring good news or for something good to happen, the Holy Spirit told me I can start rejoicing now...don't need to wait for things to happen.
Earlier I was praying and asking the Lord to somehow drop His joy into my life and to lift up my spirits. I thought joy was so evasive...why I cannot seem to feel happy or enthusiastic about life. Then one day when the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I suddenly woke up! I decide that I shall not wait for things to turn around or for me to start feeling better then to rejoice. I shall make a conscious decision to rejoice in the Lord right now! This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! I started to sing praises and worship the Lord. Guess what? My spirits lifted and suddenly my perspective towards the new year is full of hopes!
Joy is a spirit and it is contagious. You will find that when you are joyful, you are usually healthy or even if you are sick, you get well faster. Proverbs 17:22 says 'A cheerful heart does good, like medicine. But a broken spirit dries the bones.' When you are joyful and have a expectation of good things, good things are attracted to you. When good things happen to you, you are even happier and this becomes a good cycle. Well, at the end of the day, when your appointed time comes, God will cause your promise to manifest. The question is: do you want to be found happy and joyful or sad and grouchy when that day comes? The decision is yours.
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