Oh, I how I wish that I had the faith of Mary and Joseph, even John the Baptist as he is crying out in the wilderness.prepare ye, the way of the lord.
Faith is tough. Faith is trusting in the things unknown. Well, that’s where things get hard. I don’t know about you but I am not a fan of the unknown. I am a control freak, and I wear that proudly. I like to know what is going to happen and when, and truly if I could i would love to control the outcomes.
Faith is hard, it requires us to give up some of the control and trust that the right thing is going to occur even if it is not the outcome that we want for ourselves. I think about Mary and being a teenager and being told that you were going to bring a child into this. Think of the trust, the faith that it took, She was unmarried, had no reason to trust that she would not only be disowned by her family but disowned by her community. That’s some serious faith.
I have such a hard time trusting or having faith when I cannot control the outcome. I immediately go to okay what can I do to make this work the way I need it to? The problem with that thinking is sometimes maybe most of the time, my trying to control the outcome is really not the best for the situation, I should have learned by now that my need for control means more trusting in the faith that things will work out for the best.
It seems appropriate that week two in Advent leads from faith to week three which is Joy. Joy seems so easy after faith. Joy is the little things that makes us feel that life is good. Joy is your doggie kisses and friends and family and the list goes on and on.
What brings you joy? Sometimes it is just the smallest thing that can change your outlook. Maybe you got a text from someone, for me doggie snuggles and kitty purring can make even the worst moments bar-able. Life can be hard and it can get ugly, but we needs to seek out that joy. We need to look for that bright spot, and frankly we need to focus on the joy.
It’s easy to get focused on the negative, the things that steal our joy and take our faith. But we need to be more like Mary, we need to faith in the outcome will be best, and Joy will follow.
Until next time,
Juli
Juli's Blog 