July 2018

le. And I jumped right in…feet
first. In four years I went from
possessing the promise land to
losing my marriage, living to sofa
to chair, bottom line: homelessness.
I had already been diagnosed
with a fatal heart disease
years earlier, and now I had the
opportunity to add heartbreak
and excruciatingly painful fear.
Somedays I would tell myself
things couldn’t possibly get any
worse… but I promise you that
as truth is my witness they could
and they did.
But I made it, and so will you.
One very important lesson that
God taught me during my process
is that the way I was going
to beat my fear was by understanding
it. “Crazy, right?” Not
really. Think about it. How can
you beat something you don’t
understand?
You don’t choose a job, house,
car, school, or start a business
without learning about the duties,
location, function, quality
or gains of them. You do your
research. The process of restoring
joy will require you to do the
same. Wisdom is the principle
thing, therefore get wisdom: and
with all thy getting get understanding,
Proverbs 4:7 (KJV).
Ways to maintain joy.
Now may the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in
hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit, Romans 15: 13 (NKJV).
Fear can either cause you to become
paralyzed/frozen, make
you run/flight or help you fight.
You may also find yourself transitioning
through all these stages.
Sometimes all at once. But
most often you’ll go in and out of
each stage.
Emotionally going up and down
causes feelings of being out of
control. This is where understanding
can be your most powerful
tool. Understanding and
identifying which stage you are
in is the best way to help you
to overcome fear. But how do
you get that understanding? You
pray.
Pray for understanding.
Pray for peace of mind. Pray
for new strength each day. And
pray some more. Pray when you
feel overwhelmed. Pray when
you feel like running instead of
confronting fear. And pray some
more.
Finding scripture on joy is easy.
All you have to do is google or
check your Bible’s concordance.
Its finding moments in a day
where finding areas that those
scriptures will apply that’s hard
when in crisis mode.
James 1: 2-8: My brethren count
it all joy when you fall into various
trials (NKJV)….
Take small steps until you can
leap. It’s more than okay. In addition
to prayer, go on walks. Look
around. Examine your surroundings
they hold valuable keys/
information into what survival
looks like. This alone will help
you to understand the reason of
purpose. Be open to opportunities
to laugh…this is scripture,
Job 8: 21 (NKJV), He (God) will
yet fill your mouth with laughter.
Go to movies with friends, watch
a sunset, sit back and listen to
music, sing songs of praise,
breathe deeply and exhale often.
Not only will you begin to feel the
presence of God, but you will
start to feel safe and protected.
You’ll notice that your emotions
are becoming stabilized. Those
out of control emotions will feel
calmer. You’ll be empowered
to find solutions, and strong
enough to act on them. Before
you know it that missing joy will
be found. And it will be real and
tangible!
Good for the Soul Confessions
Speak life to yourself daily. Verbalize
scriptures and quotes that
define the level of strength you
know you’ll need that that day,
hour or minute. Acknowledge
the source of your strength. Acknowledge
the source of your
help.
The Lord is my strength and my
shield; my heart trusted (trusts)
in him, and I am helped; therefore
my heart greatly rejoices,
and with my song I will praise
him, Psalm 28:7 (NKJV).
It is the conquering of fear that
allows joy to be restored. It is the
understanding of the purpose of
the crisis that helps to bring back
our strength. And it is being open
and honest with God that makes
way for peace in-the-mind, which
you’ll need for concentration.
JOY can never been felt to its
fullest, or experienced to its utmost
until it has been experienced
in God. There is a joy, an
unspeakable joy that surpasses
58 www.faithfilledfamily.com July 2018