Dread to Joy

So often we give more attention to the flaws, failures, and what’s gone wrong in our life, rather than to what’s right. Going down those dark holes never leads to life. We imagine all the worst possible outcomes, until we’re completely exhausted and too frightened to move. We constantly compare ourselves to others, and to impossible standards we’ve accepted as truth that we can never live up to. And rather than being opportunities for God’s truth and grace, negative circumstances become our judge and jury, always sentencing us to isolation because we’re never good enough.

But your circumstances aren’t testing your worth, they’re proving God’s. Every challenge you face is indeed an opportunity to invite God in, to experience his love, grace, healing, provision, and transforming power. Every time you allow God to have his way in your life, what’s already right in him becomes your mindset, and what he’s still working on with you gets put into his peace.

Count your blessings. That may seem trite, but really, it’s the most amazing place to begin renewing your mind and restoring your heart. Thank God for how many good things there are in your life, and realize how important you are to him, and how amazing you really are. Your identity in Christ is so much more fantastic than what you’ve allowed yourself to believe. Let who you are in Jesus displace the fear of what you’re not, and today will transform from dread to joy.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).