True You: Finding Beauty In AuthenticitySample

The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength 

It would make sense for me to say that I wish I could tell my children no harm will ever come to them, and every day will be filled with rainbows, butterflies, and unicorns. But actually, I don’t wish those things—at all. I’ve seen how challenges play a part in making us who we are, and through it all, we will stand. The important part is that you must remind yourself you will come through it, and the beauty is that in the midst of it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly, you will grow. 

I once had someone tell me to never lose my joy because the joy of the Lord is my strength. For a while, it was something that I really held on to. Being someone who is predisposed to joy, that kind of thinking served me well. For a while, this lost some of the flair for me, but over the course of the last three years, I have renewed that thinking.

I want you to take a moment to think about one of your hardest days in recent times. A day that felt like the wind was out of your sails, and you felt unsure of your next breath. A day when you felt like Chicken Little and thought the sky could be falling. Guess what? It didn’t. And guess what else? You made it through that day. Thus far you have made it through 100 percent of your hardest days and perhaps without knowing it, joy played a part. 

Just like that someone told me, today, I am telling you that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and peace is found in letting go.