Journey to Joy -- Seth Peterson

Every morning I wake up seems to bring me on a new learning journey in my walk with Christ. Sometimes the path is one I am glad to explore but other times it is a path I feel less than comfortable traveling. In my mind, traveling with the Coffey’s in 2014 seemed like it would be super easy since I already had some experience with them in 2013, but soon circumstances came into my life that threw off my groove. 

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It is so easy for me to let my circumstances control my thoughts, then my thoughts drift away from God’s truth and I begin to worry and fear things in my mind. My flesh wants to take control of the situations I am in and I get even more frustrated because it is impossible for me to take control of something that I never had control of in the first place. Instead of resting in the arms of Christ, I let my journey rob me of joy found only in Christ.

God has been teaching me that, as I walk with Christ, the core of my relationship to Him is not found in my personal happiness or when I feel totally comfortable with a situation.  In fact, my happiness has nothing to do with me being able to grow closer to Christ. Anything I cherish more than Christ, even if it is only my comfort, has become an idol in my life, keeping me from experiencing joy. Christ is going to grow me each day as I willingly submit myself to His control, and once I leave my thoughts, plans, hopes, and agendas in Christ’s hands, then He is going to change me. Joy is an overflow of a life that is trusting and submitting to God.

Even though growth does not always come into my life in the ways I would like, I know that even when I don’t understand something, God has graciously chosen to lead me down that path.  Philippians 1 reminds me that because God began a good work in me, He is going to stick with me and continue to use the trials and pressures of life until I am with Him in Glory. It is encouraging to know that God is at work in my life—and that He wants me to have a life of joy more than even I do.