It's been a huge traffic road and I was on my way back from the airport to home. I saw two crowded bus beside my cab. The first is packed with happy faces. It's a school bus with little children in their uniform. Some of them were shouting and peeping from the window with excitement, and some singing song joyfully. All the little faces I saw in the windows have a bright smile and they were contagious. I was smiling back.
The next bus behind was crowded too, with grown up men and women. Very mature people. And the atmosphere appears very different from the school bus in the front. They all look serious and very vivid, sad and tired. They are not singing or chatting with each other. Some were sleeping and some were just staring out the window. Some look despair and some look depressed. Some of them were lost on their telephones.
It makes me wonder why!! Are they too busy to smile and enjoy the ride. Are they all getting through something bad in life? Is it because they are grown up and smiling without reasons is silly? This scene makes me ponder upon growing up in life. I feel blessed to be growing older, especially given the fact that I didn’t suffer a serious disease or face any near death experiences. Life has been amazing and beautiful to be honest.
But for some, it may not have been easy. There’s certainly been a bunch of things to deal with.
And many tend to get bitter as they go through all this phases.
You and I know the answer why this came about.
Yes growing up is not easy as we face different struggles of life and encounters different circumstances, wherein in the process our joy and happiness somehow left us and life loses its luster.
Let's emphasis on our life as a believer. The Bible says those who trust in the Lord has been redeemed through Jesus Christ.
The psalmist, David, understood that God guards and keeps all those who have faith in Him, imparting His loving kindness and grace, preserving their lives from distress and dead (Psalm 86:2, 13). This reminds us that a life of faith will enable us to trust God increasingly with every difficulty we encounter. With each faithfulness and trust in God, we are drawn closer to the Source of spiritual joy and peace. Growing up in life, our struggles can be up and down. But let's not be weary, let us put our focus on the Joy of our salvation.
The Bible taught us that Jesus Christ suffered most than any of us, be it temptations, humiliation and betrayal, hunger and physical suffering, taking a huge responsibility to save all mankind. But He was obedient till death, looking forward to the glory God the Father had promised Him (Hebrew 12:2).
We all have a choice either to be happy or to worry when trouble comes our way. Like many disciples, we will grow as we discover that the testing of one grace produces another. We will continue to mature as we persevere through prayer and trust God our Father. We will find ourselves growing in Christ and living a joyful life as we cultivate the ability to release all of our burdens to God.
Our anxieties and insecurities will vanish and we will be perfect and wholly developed in faith, lacking nothing as we steadfastly and endured (James 1:2–4).
Each day brings its own burden of cares and concerns. It also brings with it its own strength and provision. If new trials and troubles arrive daily, God’s help and provision are also being provided anew (Lamentations 3:22–23).
Bearing all this in mind, will you choose Joy today? Will you choose to be cheerful instead of being upset? Will you keep yourself calm and let God control your circumstances?
Let us proclaim the joy of living our life in Jesus Christ as His child and let us hold on to Him till the day He come back to bring us back to our heavenly home.
Let us enjoy the journey.
