Ran across this blog on my Reader. A wonderful reminder that we often ask things of God that are WAY TOO SMALL! We have a BIG God, so why not ask BIG things of Him? He has promised that if we ask, we WILL receive!
Source: Ask Bigger
Month: January 2016
What’s So ‘Happy’ About the New Year?
It’s 2016 and to be totally honest, I’m having difficulty with the “Happy” part of the New Year. Sure, I have a LOT to be thankful for. I’m into my 8th year of transplant, I have a wonderful family, God has preserved and protected us for another year and there are many other reasons to be extremely grateful. However, the more I think about it gratitude and thankfulness are choices and being “happy” is a byproduct of making those choices, it does not generate or create them.
The dictionary defines ‘happy’ in these terms:
happy |ˈhapē| adjective (happier, happiest) feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
I don’t want to feel or show pleasure or contentment, I want to BE content and I don’t want to find pleasure in things but in pursuing God and loving people.
(happy about) having a sense of confidence in or satisfaction with (a person, arrangement, or situation)
Yes, but the only person I want to place confidence in or have satisfaction with is Jesus.
(happy with) satisfied with the quality or standard of.
Satisfaction vs. contentment here. For me satisfaction is settling, contentment is choosing, no matter the circumstance.
2016 will be a year of choices. There is SO much happening in the world today that would give us ample reason to NOT be happy. Worry about the future, or what the next catastrophic event might be, or the ever-increasing worldwide violence, political and social issues and a host of other reasons to be unhappy with the prospect of a new year.
In 2016 I choose…
- Faith over worry
- Prayer over fear
- Gratitude over whining
- Facts over feelings
- Love over hate
- Work over idleness
- Understanding over distrust
In 2016 I want to…
- Read more, speculate less
- Give more, complain less
- Help more, hurt less
- Study more, assume less
- Ask more, judge less
- Walk more, sit less
- Discover more, gaze less
Bring it on 2016! Yes, this year will bring challenges. Yes, this year will bring heartache and loss. Yes, this year will bring tragedy. Yes, this year will feature the unexpected. Yes, this year will bring good things. But no matter what this year may bring, my happiness will not come from circumstances or any external event.
The ‘happy’ part of my new year will be from me choosing that which won’t depend on my happiness, but on my choices!
