I often wonder upon the reasons God has done certain things. Like why did He make the sky blue, why did He make trees green. Why do some dogs have big heads and others small? Why is the circulatory system repairable, yet the nervous system not?
And in His Great Glory, why did He create Human with free will? Was it to create companions whom He knows are going to fall, but He allows to fall anyway because He knows that we must come to the precious discovery of our constant need for Him?
And in His Creation, He loved us enough to create companions for one another. What was His great design? When He created Adam and Eve to love one another, knowing their descendants to come would continue to create their own and so the Circle of Life goes.
On this beautiful day, did He see the Tree He was creating? Well I'm sure He did, but do we?
We are all related in some way, even if just to be called Human. We are all born of God's beautiful creation. We may have different hair color, eye color, body shape and size, and even personality. But we are all related. We each have hopes, dreams, good days and bad days. We all experience fear and happiness. And if we are really lucky, we learn to experience true joy.
In group today, we pondered the definition of happiness. Is it a feeling or a state of mind? And is it different from joy? Well the consensus seemed to be that happiness is fleeting, momentary, but joy well that is down deep in your heart even your soul.
Joy = Peace. To experience true joy in your life, there must also be a peace which you have to draw from. Else it's easy to allow the challenges of life to drag you down and get in the way of the joy which God so wants for us. In my life, in my experience, the Holy Spirit has blessed me with more peace / joy that I could ever ask. By having lived an anxious and worried life, I know the difference.
So what do we do with that Joy? Do we keep it for ourselves? Or do we hide it away for a rainy day? You see, that's the kicker. True joy can't be hidden, it must be shared, like a bright light in a dark night. God blesses us with joy so we can share it - spread it to others so they can feel it too. It's contagious.
So how do we share? Well, I challenge you to start with your closest friends. They may be family members, they may be best friends, church friends, school friends. Share your joy with them. Let them see you laugh, smile. Encourage them, reach out to them and love on them. Then venture out to those you may not be close to, you may not even know. Give them a big Georgia smile and say "Hi, how are you today?" And if they turn away quite not sure what to say themselves, don't be discouraged, just move on to the next one. You never know when you may brighten a person's day, even if they don't experience it in the same moment.
And you never know which part of the tree they reside, they may even be on the next branch . . .
Father, thank you for your beautiful creation. Thank you for the tree of life we all get to reside. May you be forever gracious in our lives and in the relationships we get to experience. Please allow us all to remember The Good Samaritan on the road of life and be willing to share your Great Love with those we come in contact.
Your Loving Daughter
