God, why is there so much clutter in my life ?Why do I persist in doing what I ought not when I know perfectly well that  the end result is but shame and disappointment? Why do things I put my hands to tend to end  in dissaray?Why the loneliness: can’t I just have that one person I so want and desire? Could I be happy just for once? Anyone recall having heard or even spoken such?

Life is intriguing and it happens to us all. Some circumstances and people  can be disturbingly provocative leading us to an easy  fall. We slip and  tumble no matter the pretence.Rocks are thrown at us from every corner; we swim in the dirtiest of dirt; we earnestly long for things we cannot get. We struggle to keep people or stuff we should  allow be and that in turn exposes us to hurt especially when the response or outcome is not in our favour. We experience stuff that drain our confidence .We repeatedly make those mistakes and consistently commit those ‘silly’ acts ‘ in good faith’, being certain that something  different will eventually occur.

That is the mud life can toss us into but ,we don’t always have to settle in that struggle. Life has a span and no one really knows when our end is. What better way is there to live life than being thankful for the seemingly ‘little nothings’ someone else is crying for and just be joyful with what we have?

I have come to know that being not just content but joyful is a conscious decision. So is being sad and discontented .I’ve had experiences which have left me rather disappointed; Circumstances where I  hoped for some good to come about  but didn’t. In such instances, the ‘normal thing’ is to be sad and cry my heart out; but you know what, I allow myself  feel bad for a while and there and then, I ask God to forgive me, help me overcome my emotions and above all my thoughts rather than have them overrule me .I refuse to let the temporary  happenstances  affect me. I choose to look at the brighter side of life and tell myself, ‘Use this to glorify God and bless another life’. One  thing always occurs to me, ‘If I can’t  think it, then it can’t ’t hurt me,simple.As I think  so am I and as I am so will my do be.’(Prov 23:7)

I have no slight idea where you find yourself now, I don’t know where you’ve been hurt. I’m not aware of the happenings in your world but what I do know is that you can be joyful,yes,you can! A simple word for you is that we are privileged to have  a God who is ever-ready to embrace our worries .’Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy-laden’, He says and ‘I will give you rest’. Not everything is worth capturing your heart. You have someone who is willing to take it from you and substitute it with something better. I love the way the Message puts it :  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Throw it off at His feet and let go off the tension..Soar above  the negative feeling .Don’t stick on: ‘I’ll get over it with time’ .As long as you are able,do with your today what you’re intending to do tomorrow  because tomorrow is never guaranteed.Dont be remembered for living a sad life. Choose to be joyful! God is able to make all grace abound towards you. He’s able to make you stand if you’ve fallen, able to guard what you have entrusted to him and ready to come to your aid where you are tempted.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us. (Eph 3:20  )

Let us not  handcuff God with our lack of joy; He makes His abode  where there is fullness of joy. Take control! When you have power over that lack of joy, you won’t be afraid of what life throws at you. Reach out for the things before you .You can’t grab a hold of the new until you let go off the old. What a person plants, he will harvest. Your future holds the harvest of your seeds. Plant seeds of joy.(Gal 6:7).

©Aminata .A.R.Dibassey

‘Sorrow makes us all children again,destroy all differences of intellect.The wisest knows nothing’

‘Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself’  Ralph Waldo Emerson.