It is worth it
It is worth it
I was totally exhausted but I still had another meeting. I had been rushing around since 6am and now it was 9.15pm. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, my body was giving way, but I knew I needed to go and see my friend. This kind of exhaustion I knew was not just physical but also emotional and spiritual. I arrived at her house (which is just across the street from my house,) and flopped down on her sofa. She could see my exhaustion and came and surrounded me in a hug and began to intercede for me. I had been through an intense spiritual battle that week and she knew it. She began to pray, speak out life and promises over me and my spirit. She and I cried together and brought the intense issues of the day to God.
As our time of prayer grew to an end and I felt the spiritual and emotional exhaustion lift (I was still ready to sleep some!) I gave thanks for my friend. We have known each other for nearly a decade and I glimpsed how much she had grown in that time.
As I shared last week, I had been wrestling with seeing the purpose in carrying on in ministry with all the emotional issues it brought. I had been wrestling with not seeing the prize and therefore not wanting to pay the price. As I hugged my friend, I felt like God say to me: ‘See?! It is worth it, it just takes time.’
In Proverbs 10:1 and Proverbs 15:20 it says:
“A wise son is a joy to his father”
A wise son isn’t just something that happens - it is a harvest of many many seeds that have been sown in a child’s life over many years. As I looked at my friend, I knew that my life and us being here had meant that many seeds had been planted directly and indirectly in her life that were now producing a beautiful harvest.
I realised that evening that I had forgotten to take stock of the fruit of things God was doing in our lives. I was so overwhelmed by the emotions of the week that I had been unable to acknowledge the good things God had already done and was doing.
I looked through my journal at the things that had happened this year - roller coaster after roller coaster of difficult, but incredible, spiritual journeys and breakthroughs. Each one of those emotionally-charged times had brought about fruit and breakthrough in my life or in the lives of others. And they were all worth it. I just needed perspective.
Mark and I have just begun a new practice this week. Before we go to be bed each night we are taking 5 minutes to thank God for each member of our family and core team and say one specific thing that we are grateful for in their lives. We are deliberately choosing to see the fruit God is producing in their lives. And it is bringing us perspective and joy which will also overflow into our relationships with our family and team as we choose to see the positive rather than the negative. It is also a daily shot of joy which encourages us to keep going because it confirms that it worth it.
Throughout Scripture, we see the command of God to the Israelites to remember. God even calls for special feast days to be set aside to remember specific events that God has done. We are so quick to forget the good things God has done for us and consciously remembering is another step into living a joy-filled life.
“This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to the Lord.”
Let’s take on joy together:
Either verbally or in your journal, think of the key relationships in your life and spend a moment thanking God specifically for ways you have seen those people grow or ways they have expressed love to you recently.
We are half-way through! Are you remembering to put on joy daily? This is Day 11 of a 21 Day challenge to put on joy in practical ways. You can receive these posts by email by clicking to sign up here.
