October 2012 Guest Post

This month's guest post comes to us from Britt.

   Britt blogs over at Encouragement for Everyday Struggles & Designed to Inspire.

Joy

   Hello, this is Britt from Encouragement For Everyday Struggles. Mandie mentioned to me that this month's Guest Post was to be about Joy. Thanks Mandie for asking me to guest post!! 

   To be honest, for me being joyful often depends greatly on my circumstances and the type of day I am going through, sorry to say. Being joyful in hard times is something I think we all have trouble from time to time. Yes, we may say being joyful is easy to do, but when hard times come and trying circumstances arise it is hard to find the “joy” deep within us and know that we can be happy even through so much suffering. God tells us directly from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 that we should be “thankful always” and be happy for what we are going through. This may not come easily to us- and I don’t think it is supposed to. We are sinful and don’t have the right motives all the time. I think that God allows us to go through things to test our faith so we grow closer to Him and lean more on Him. 

   Being a joyful person really does help us spiritually, emotionally and physically. When we are joyful it makes our whole outlook on life seem change and also is shown to help increase our health. (Proverbs 17:22- A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones). 

   One thing that we should try to do more often is be joyful in the circumstances God has placed us in and not just look at all the bad things in our life. Yes, things may be bad and hard right now and it may be difficult getting up each morning, but we have so many things to be thankful for- a family, a home, a God who loves us and especially an eternal home waiting for us. 

   We have so much to be thankful and joyful about! Don’t forget how much you have in your life that you can be rejoicing over today- thank God that He has allowed you to have another day on the earth to help inspire others and also grow closer to Him. : )

Thanks Mandie for letting me guest post!!! Such a great topic to write on!

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Thank you, Britt for guest posting here! You always write such encouraging posts ;-)