Fighting for Joy

"Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud, and the other stars." ~Frederick Langbridge

Last week was a rough one for me, on several different fronts. On Saturday I tried to just rest up and get back into a better mood. And it didn't work. I woke up on Sunday morning and was thinking that I had no idea what to blog about this week because I was just in such a bad mood and nothing seemed right.

And then.....I went to church. And, like He seems to have to do all to often in my life, God smacked me upside the head. The sermon today was on Psalm 3, and one of the main parts of the message was that we have to fight for joy. See? *Smack*

The first thing I thought of was a scene from the movie Bridesmaids. (Strange for that anaolgy to come to mind in church, I know!) I wish I could find a video, because it's so darn hilarious, but since I can't, my description will just have to do. So the main character, Annie, has all sorts of things going wrong inher life. She's basically at her rock bottom. She's all down and out and depressed.

And at this point, one of the other bridesmaids (the big, butch, scary one I might add) confronts her. She says, "The world isn't the problem. You are your own problem, Annie, but you're also the solution." And then she proceeds to tackle Annie and pin her against the couch while smacking her around. Annie asks what she is doing, and the other bridesmaid says, "I'm your LIFE, Annie. FIGHT BACK!” and this goes on and on and on until finally Annie smacks the crazy bridesmaid in the face. She learned that she could fight back.

The same thing is true with fighting for joy. Sometimes we forget that we can fight back. We don't know what to do or how to start. We need some scary friend to tackle us, or a good sermon to smack us around.

It's not just a good idea...this fighting for joy thing....it's our obligation. If we don't--if we let our circumstances or our emotions win, then we're missing out on the purpose that God has for us. And it's one that I'm taking pretty seriously. So that's what I'm doing this week. I'm fighting back. I'm making a conscious effort to be happy and be grateful and put my trust in God. Does that mean the problems go away? I wish, but it does not. The problems are still there--we can do nothing to control that. But the joy? That's something we can control. Something for which we can fight. So bring it on.