July 30th - "Don't worry be happy?"

The story...

In June, 1981, I visited my family in Whitehall, MI, for a weekend vacation.  I'd recently joined a wonderful group of believers who regularly studied their bibles together in Oak Ridge, TN.  They were working out their faith in ways that were new, and filled with unexpected goodness, to me.  The leader, Bill Job, was freely sharing the reality of his own faith walk as he shared God's revealed Word.  I'd decided to follow Jesus - no turning back, no turning back.  I first heard about the concept of God's grace through Bill.

I shared what I learned, and decided, with my dad on our way back to the cabin for lunch.  My dad paused, turned to me and said, "It sounds good, but you just can't live like that . . . life just doesn't work that way.  You can try."

Why not try to live a good righteous life, do your best, and try to be happy in all circumstances?  Seriously, why not?  This is a question worthy of pondering.  Was my dad right?  Is it impossible even with our best efforts?  Like many perplexing questions, and answers, he seemed to be both right and wrong.  I learned that I can't, no matter how hard I try, yet God can.  He changed me from the inside out.  He changed my heart and my will was bent to trust Him.  My "good" life's grown through ongoing prayer and communion with my Father in Christ.  I thankfully praise God for His might, power, grace, and love for even me.  Yet, my "self" is still on the "shelf" - readily available whenever...

I expect that the only church in town will offer knowledge, relationships, and opportunities for each attender to trust God and quit trying to be good on their own.  When they do, there's no turning back - God is faithful to His Word.

Just for today...

"I choose happiness and then abandon my choice at the first sign of trouble.  How deep can my commitment be if I allow even slight obstacles to rob me of my sense of well-being? . . . If I have a long-standing habit of responding to problems by feeling like a victim, it may not be easy to stand by my decision to be happy."  Courage to Change (p. 212)