Focus—choosing Joy - The Gentleness Challenge: a 7-Day devotional

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12, NIV)

How often do we act as if our circumstances are beyond our control? I don’t mean in a “sovereignty of God” kind of way. I am under no delusions that I am the author of my own fate or can even will myself another breath if it weren’t granted to me by the Lord. I mean the excuses we make for our bad moods, crummy attitudes, and strident tones.

If only I weren’t sick, pregnant, postpartum, tired, hangry, hormonal, PMS-ing, under so much stress … then I could be nice to people. Unfortunately, as legitimate as all of those are and as much as we do experience sweet spots in our lives when being gentle comes more easily, chances are, at least one of the factors I listed above will be in play at some point nearly every single day.

Which means we have a decision to make: Be a victim to our circumstances or choose joy. Romans 12:12 says: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (NIV). Easy? Not at all. But if we’re ever going to get past the constant cycle of explaining to our kids that “Mama was not very nice because she …” then we’re going to have to make a choice to give our circumstances to the Lord and choose joy regardless.

ACTION STEPS:

• As you begin your day, ask God to give you His supernatural eyes to notice moments of joy and to choose them in His strength, rather than letting annoyance reign.
• Let your accountability partner(s) know what things you’re rejoicing in today.
• Ask how you can pray for them.
• At the end of the day, make a list of the ways that you chose joy. This can serve as a reminder and a pattern for days to come.