I know I can't speak for everyone who has their birthday, but for me, my birthday is a 24-hour fun fest.
I'm woken up by phone calls, a bajillion notifications saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", and everyone wanting to let me know they really appreciate the fact that I was born and that I'm still around to enjoy all of the fun that I can.
So much fun.......but then I remember all of the times I didn't feel as ecstatic, not full of joyful energy, and had zero thoughts of anything but happiness.
Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
I know I posted in my last devo about how I've been covering up my trials with a smile, but I just wanted to add onto that same "fake joy" with a thought I had a little bit ago.
About an hour ago, I felt the urge (most likely God pushing me) to call an old friend, thinking it would be a quick, short and sweet phone call to say "Hey" and be on our way, but it turned into a 20-minute chat about life.
We mainly chatted about how things have been since high school, but we also talked about how we were always the guys people thought had it all together emotionally, and how we always seemed super happy, but we aren't always like that. Truly, and authentically happy only came so often for the both of us.
Somewhere between us talking about Xbox and getting older, I realized, not for the first time, but for the first time in a while, how I could make myself happy without having to fake it by saying, "I'm doing good," or "Super-duper," as I love to say.
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Last week, I passed a friend in the hallway that I was also expecting to see for a quick second, say hey, and keep walking, but instead, we stopped and chatted for a second.
In that short 10-12 minutes we sat to catch up, she said something that I had to get in writing because it made me think differently both then and now:
"It's not joy that makes us grateful but being grateful that gives us joy."
That hit me harder than my coffee did before writing this. Being grateful gives us joy, just like the Bible verse says above:
"the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us"......if that doesn't give you joy about what awe and wonder God has ready to pour over and into you, then I'm not sure what else to say except Target already has Christmas M&M's out, and they're the best, go buy some.
On a more serious and focused note, God doesn't promise that you'll be authentically happy every single day if you choose to love Him as He loves you, but He does promise a brighter day ahead if you hold on for that day, and the many days to come.
"God has you here for a reason, so believe it and stay strong until He opens your eyes to see it."
In my residence hall, I'm in charge of writing stuff on the floor whiteboard with a giant dry-erase marker, and a couple of weeks ago, I tossed a couple of countdowns.
One countdown saying "x# of days until Thanksgiving break," and another saying, "x# of days till Christmas."
But we shouldn't have to dread every day until another day comes.
We shouldn't have to wait until the weekend to unleash our emotions on a late night out in places we don't want to be at, just to wake up the next day feeling worse than you did the night before. We shouldn't have to wait until Thanksgiving to be thankful, Christmas to be cheerful, and our birthdays to feel appreciated about the fact that we're born, and more importantly: born for a reason.
Our parents might have had us for one reason or another, but God put us in the world for a reason far beyond any reason our parents could ever have imagined.
So if you walk away from anything in this devotional, know this:
1. You are never alone because accepting that you are is simply just forgetting the happy times you've had in your past and not seeing what's to come of your future story.
2. "It's not joy that makes us grateful but being grateful that gives us joy."
3. God has you here for a reason, so believe it and stay strong until He opens your eyes to see it.
With that said,
Live like it's your birthday everyday, love others like you might not get to see them for a while, and be loved by loving yourself and by letting others take care of you when you need them the most.
Don't stop seeking God's love, and don't stop loving others. 1 phone call, 1 stop in the halls, and 1 moment is all it takes to change another person's heart and by changing their heart, God will continue to pour into yours.
Oh, and thanks for the birthday wishes!
- B.A.
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