“When I am consumed by my problems—stressed out about my life, my family, and my job—I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a ‘right’ to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.” – Francis Chan, Crazy Love

What a great quote! This challenges the way we face the struggles and everyday living of life. I don’t know about you, but joy isn’t my normal response when I have a ton on my plate and they all demand a ton out of me. I get stressed and consumed with the issues.

I’m curious on how the world would change if Christians really rejoiced always. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not talking about that fake “Praise God!” or “God is good!” when you are asked how you are doing. That just annoys me. I’m talking about a sincere joy to be facing the struggles that come our way because we have a great God who is walking with us through it all and is more than powerful enough to get us through.

I think it would rock the world if we started living that way.

The truth is I try too hard. It’s something I recently realized. I’ve been trying too hard to be who I think I should be compared to others. And the thing about it is that there isn’t any one thing that I compare myself to. There is always something that I’m not good enough at or can’t do.

The reality is that I am good enough and okay. I read a great quote from Oswald Chambers recently that got me thinking about this.

“Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with others as He is with you.”

I am okay with me. I’m going to start living that way. And I think you’ll notice it on the blog too.