Today as I rode in the car with my girl, she shared that she was feeling down.  She’s had a rough season in her current sport, and it’s been hard to maintain a joyful attitude.  We’ve prayed often for her to find true joy in the gifts she’s been given.  We’ve prayed that her heart wouldn’t get bogged down in the analytics of her athletics, but that she would rejoice in what her body can do, and always point others to the One who gives her the ability to do it, whether in word or countenance.  I fight the urge to just tell her, “cheer up!”

 

She’s a wise young woman who speaks the truth she’s studied to learn.  She told me she was having pep talks with herself, but they only work for so long.  Teasing her, I asked if she’s going to the One who will give her true joy, or if she just needs to have more self-pep-talks.

 

The thing is, I can tease her, but I’ve got to be honest, I’ve heard a lot of “pep talks” from pulpits, and platforms, where well-meaning teachers tell us we need to “pull up our boot straps” and “just do it,” when it comes to walking out the Christian life.  Sermons peppered with encouraging verses and uplifting music end with a sort of “rah, rah!” send-off that leaves us thinking we should be able to muster up the happy thoughts, and avoid doing bad things, and all will be well in life.

 

The thing is, true joy isn’t something we can magically manufacture.  It is a dear gift from the God of all joy, who longs to fill us with good cheer, and not in the manner of a happy Christmas carol.  He longs to give us hope when we can’t seem to say kind words to our kids when they irritate us, or stay away from that food choice that causes us to feel rotten, or smile when we can’t accomplish a feat in work or play that we feel we should.  And I’m concerned, because if we’re selling this message to those in the church, then chances are, those who don’t know Christ feel this burden heaped upon them, too.  Then we wonder why they don’t want what we’re “selling;” but it’s no different than what they’ve got.

 

 

Be of good cheer, my friend… and by that, I mean, admit you can’t “bootstrap it;” you can melt into the love and graceful care of your good Father… the one who really will hold us close and give us hope, when we’ve got no ability to muster it up.  It might not look lighthearted on the outside, and it might not even feel it in your temporary “feel-good-mind…” but there is Hope, and it brings Joy.

 

Are you walking through darkness?  How do you find cheer in its midst?

 

much love,

 

 

{On Fridays I try to keep up with a wonderful group of writers who challenge themselves to free-write for five minutes on a shared topic. Click to Kate’s page Five Minute Friday to see what others are saying!}