Yet Will I Rejoice

On any given day, there are hundreds of things that might annoy me. My alarm goes off too early. My hair doesn't curl the way I want it to. The water in my shower takes longer to get hot. My coffee pot starts leaking halfway through brewing. My car windows are frosted. My route to work involves dealing with traffic. I can't hear the Reading at Mass. Someone uses the word teen. I have to answer the same question for the seventh time. I forget my lunch. My drink at a coffee shop isn't prepared as well as it could be. Less youth group kids show up to an event than I wanted. My printer doesn't work. My phone performs tasks slowly. I can't fall asleep. My life could be an endless supply of let downs, annoyances, and hindrances. But a life with vision like that only leads to a life empty of joy. A life focused on the curses and inconveniences means a life void of the recognition of blessing and hearts emptied of the fulfillment found in praise.

I'm currently reading a book entitled '1000 Gifts' by Ann Voskamp. Without exaggerating at all, I think this book has changed my heart and my perspective more than any other book I've ever read. In fact, I have purchased almost 20 copies of it for friends and family, solely because I believe that if people embraced the truth found in this book, our world would change. If I embraced the truth found in this book, MY life would change.

The simple message of it is this: fullness of life is found in thanksgiving. Fullness of life is found in praising God for the blessing of gifts. The word eucharisteo means "thanksgiving" and within that word is the root "chara" which means JOY. The depth of our joy is determined by the depth of our gratitude. Our fulfillment is determined by the consistency of our praise. And it isn't just praising the Lord for things that are CLEARLY gifts--like the shelter of our homes and the gift of consolation from friends. But that fullness of life and depth of joy is found even more by praising God for gifts wrapped in hardship and clothed in confusion.

We can feel frustrated. We can recognize disturbances and maybe even wish for ease. But we can also choose to see blessing. We can choose to have eyes that see the gift of every moment. We can ask for grace to "know how to live in humble circumstances and...know how to live with abundance" (Philippians 4:12). And how? By DECIDING to "rejoice greatly in the Lord"--in every circumstance. In plenty and in scarcity. In ease and in hardship. In times where we hear the Lord speak clearly and in times where we dwell in spiritual dryness. In times where we have clarity and in times when we can barely see the next step to take. In all, we can CHOOSE praise. And if in all, we CHOOSE praise, we choose joy. We choose fulfillment. We choose the Lord.

So today, I want to praise you, Lord, and to broadcast my gratitude to the world by saying thank you for broken coffee pots and holes in clothes and purses that fall apart because it reminds me that the things of this world are temporal and fading. Thank you that I do not know how to handle all situations because it forces me to ask for the Spirit's intervention. Thank you that I do not have a husband yet and that dating has been hard because it shows me that you've given me the desire to be loved in the way that YOU have loved me, God. Thank you for making me flustered when giving youth group talks to remind me that I speak only by your gifting, not by my own ability. Thank you for my failures because I have been able to see the beauty and freedom in asking for forgiveness. Thank you for uncertainty and restlessness and times of waiting because I have palpably felt you stretching my soul and my heart's capacity for you.

"For though the fig tree blossoms not, not fruit be on the vines. Though the yield of the olive fail and the terraces produce no nourishment. Though the flocks disappear from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in my saving God." And in that, we find joy. Father, giver of ALL things, we choose to praise. We choose to worship. We choose to abandon. As we bless, give us grace to be the blessing. As we praise, may we be filled with your life. As we give thanks, may we have joy.