Sunday, May 1, 2016

Psalms 81:1 -- On Remembering to Rejoice

"Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob."
Psalms 81:1


I like this thought.  Sometimes we get kind of down about God and the gospel.  We think that it is just too hard, involves too much work, and we start avoiding it because we feel overwhelmed or stressed about God's requirements.  I think that is definitely easy to do, but at the same time, thinking that way means that our focus is off.  God isn't our employer.  He isn't dumping piles of stuff on us and saying "Get it done, or you're fired."  Instead, he's our Father.  He gives us stuff to learn so that we'll be ready for things to come.  And there isn't a rule anywhere that we're forbidden to manage our stress levels, or say no sometimes.  As our father, God wants us to learn basic things like prioritizing and managing our lives.  The purpose of all of it is to learn joy.  We don't suffer through this life so that someday in a few eons we can have a happy eternity.  God is trying to teach us to be happy right now, in the middle of anything else that is going on.  He's trying to show us that with him around, we are *always* going to be okay.

Today, let's work on doing what we can, and then trusting God to help things work out.  Let's try not to overload ourselves, or get ourselves into holes that we can't dig our way out of.  Instead, let's take a step back and remember to sing, and to be joyful.  Let's rejoice in all that God does for us, and thank him.  I'm not saying that we should drop everything in the dust and neglect our responsibilities.  I'm saying, let's remember that joy *is* a priority, and let's build it into the things that we need to do, either by making the task itself fun, or by setting aside some time to notice the beauty in the world and be thankful for it.  Let's remember to rejoice. :)

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