Wise Wednesday... The Friday Edition

Welp... it's Friday so I guess that means it's time for a Wise Wednesday post... right? My apologies for the late posting - not sure how many of you were actually waiting for it but here it goes anyways!

I'll be thoroughly honest. My mom has LOVED, & I mean LOVED, Karen Kingsbury books forever. My mom, grandma, & aunt will FLY through them. I'd always hear about them & roll my eyes. I didn't want to read mom books. But I finally picked one up after mom did so encouraging. & now I can't stop reading... Another case of mom knows best I guess.

The best part is the lighthearted stories the series I am reading contains. It keeps your interest but also incorporates the author's faith/ the faith included in the story in a light hearted manner. && the amazing part is half the time, what God is saying to the character in the book is what I need to hear in my own life.

This past week, I had some intense discussions with a few friends regarding faith. I don't really typically like to have this type of conversation, as it can get heated from one side or the other. People usually have some sort of strong feelings regarding faith & religion. If someone comes to me questioning religion, I have no problem talking but I am not one to go out & seek it out.

So in the midst of this conversation, I was reminded of Philippians 4. I was reminded in this conversation that merely stating what I believed would not encourage this friend to take an interest into the faith. Instead, I needed to show my faith through correct actions & a loving heart. Verses 4 & 5 state: "Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy. Let everyone see that you are gentle & kind." I think if we remind ourselves of this more often, we'd be much better people, myself included!

A lot of times, I let other things rob me of my joy - the joy that I am given to share & show! How pathetic is that... Instead of being joyful regarding the situations around me, I can be prone to worry. How convenient that Verse 6 addresses this : "Do not worry about anything, but pray & ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks." Which reminded me - we are always so quick to worry. The instant a problem comes up - is our instinct to worry or to pray? Ouch... I know. That one hit me super hard as well.

My prayer for myself & you for the next week is to meditate on whether or not we are worrying or being joyful. When you take the time to be thankful of the things around you & joyful, you don't really have much time to spend worrying! Plus, honestly, what does worrying fix? Repeatedly thinking about what way a situation might go or what to say doesn't help but praying does. I know this post is super short & maybe not as deep as the other ones, but I feel like someone reading this needs to hear this, as well as myself. Be joyful! Don't worry! Worrying fixes nothing so give it up & relish in the joy around you. Be thankful & seize the day!