Live with Joy

I was out of town a couple of weeks ago giving me the chance to attend the adult class at church (oh! how I miss that class!). I believe there was a message I specifically needed to hear in that lesson that day, making the timing of my trip seem not coincidental.

Accidentally, two women had been assigned to teach. They decided to split the lesson with each teaching half. The first simply shared her story and journey of learning how to live joyfully. Her mother had grown up in Germany during World War II. Being raised by such a person would easily change your perspective on things. Stories of how orange peels out of the garbage were the most precious gifts to find and having the motivation to continue doing the best with what you had touched my soul. I was in tears most of the lesson! I just needed to hear her story so that I could be more grateful for my own. She expressed, “I can’t depend on my happiness being based upon anything but inside of me and my reaction to what happens….The Lord gives me people in my life who change me and who teach me how to be a better person. He knows ME by name.”

And then came the quote I needed to hear:

“There are times when you simply have to righteously hang on and outlast the devil until his depressive spirit leaves you…Pressing on in noble endeavors, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the sunshine.”

I think, too often, when in a dark place we think it’s our fault or that it’s going to last forever. We see no way out and therefore think there must be none. The dark can be oh so dark! But the light at the top will be just that much brighter to us as we persevere and continue on in “noble endeavors” while “righteously [hanging] on.”