– Luke 17:11-19 NKJV – 11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
A few weeks ago while I was driving to work, I asked God the question, “what is the key to maintaining peace and joy without ever being frustrated and stressed?” I was having a bad week at work; I was experiencing a lot of frustration and stress. During my drive, I started pondering about the kind of people who always seem to be perky and happy. You never see them frustrated or stressed. You never see them phased by anything, no matter what is happening, they always appear to be calm.
That morning on my way to work, I did not receive an answer to my question. But that night, after I fell asleep, I had a dream. And in that dream, I was watching TV, and on the TV, I saw myself being interviewed on a talk show. In the dream I looked very content and relaxed, normally in real life I get nervous when I am being interviewed, but in the dream, I was relaxed, calm. The talk show host asked me a question, “Mike, what is your secret to maintaining peace and joy?” I then turned to the camera and said, “being grateful.”
The next morning I remembered the dream that I had the night before and I believe that God gave me the answer to my question I asked that day. I was thinking about what I said in the dream, “being grateful.” At that moment I realized that being grateful is not a key or secret, it is an act of faith. God reminded me of people I knew who are always happy and calm.
I was thinking about an old co-worker who never allowed anything to phase him. It did not matter how bad it was at work, or how horrible his boss treated him, nothing could phase him. He had shared with me that at one time he was the opposite, he used to be angry, always looking for a fight. But one day he survived a heart attack. That one moment changed his life, he decided that he was never again going to allow anger and stress to try to take his life. That it was no longer worth fighting anymore.
I was thinking about a few friends who refused to allow Satan to steal their joy, no matter how bad a situation was, they had decided to laugh at the enemy instead. They would not allow anything or anyone from hindering their worship to God.
I also thought about another friend who was confined to a wheelchair because he was paralyzed from the waist down. Despite his condition, he refused to allow his disability from keeping him from enjoying life. Several times I have witnessed ministers who tried to pull him out of the wheelchair and pray for his healing. But my friend believed that he was already healed, because of the joy God had given him.
My wife is a firm believer that joy is a choice, and often she reminds me of that. She has taught on joy before at women’s ministry services. When our kids were growing up, when they would be home after school, Kim would ask them the question, “what good thing happened today?” The intention was to take their focus off anything bad that might have happened, and focus more on the good thing, even if it was one good thing. As a teacher, Kim also asks that same question to her students every day at school. Despite trauma that has happened in her life, my gorgeous wife still chooses joy because of her love for Jesus, and she has a big heart for her family and for everyone.
In this season of Thanksgiving, may we remember to be grateful, daily.
Psalm 28:6-7 NET – 6 The Lord deserves praise, for he has heard my plea for mercy. 7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.
