Perspective is Everything- Joy Series #3

There’s a lot more theology in a coffee shop than you might think.

God has a way of speaking to us right where we’re at.

One night I’m hurriedly cleaning up, trying to wash the portafilters up so I can close up shop.  I’m scrubbing the basket and drop it in the process.  

Ugghh.

I pick it up, wash it again and sanitize it.

And drop it again.

This is ridiculous.

I glance in between the fridge and the counter and can’t see it.  I get down on my hands and knees to look under the fridge.  Nothing.  I look from the side, behind the fridge.  Still no sign.  Where in the world could it have gone?  I stand up on my tip-toes and peer over the back of the fridge. 

And there that little rascal is: lodged in between two pipes, a few inches off the ground!

If only we could see our life from above; from God’s perspective.  What would be different?

It’s in talking with a friend about hope and joy that she asks this question:

What if there are different types of joy, like the different types of love.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?!  

So we look.  Sure enough.  Leave it to Greek to be more descriptive than our own beloved American English!

kaucaomai

That’s the one that stands out to me the most:

“To glory (whether with reason or without)

To glory on account of a thing

To glory in a thing.” (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/kauchaomai.html )

Although never actually translated “joy,” it seems to carry a similar idea.

That’s the Greek word used in Romans 5:1-3:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in the hope of the glory of God.  And not only this, we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.”

The same word is used for exulting in the hope of God and exulting in your tribulations. 

So, what if the issue isn’t about our circumstances, but rather our perspective of our circumstances?  We can always choose joy.

Again God reaches down into a little coffee shop...

2 late night customers come in, requesting a large “dirty chai” each, which they’re hooked on now.  It is 11:30...don’t they sleep?

“You guys must stay up pretty late if you’ve gotten coffee after 11:30  two nights in a row?!”

“Umm..not that late...maybe like 2 last night.”  Sounds late to me..

“I actually like sleeping on caffeine,” says one, unaware that he is about to speak God-graced truth, “because it’s not that you have to sleep, you get to choose it.”

What if that was our view of suffering in our life?  

What if we viewed it as an honor to get to choose joy when it doesn’t feel natural; when our flesh doesn’t want it; when our feelings tell us we don’t need to?

We would be exulting in our tribulations.  Knowing the outcome: hope.  

Soul refreshment.

There’s more to a “dirty chai” than you might think.  

It’s like my fellow sister pointed out:

You could just as easily have the chai all by itself. Why add what some people might see as bitter?

Because you’d never know the full joy of the beautiful combination!

Practically speaking, how do we have a perspective change?  What do we do when we find ourselves only seeing the struggle, trials, and hardships?

Give thanks!  

When we give thanks we are turning our eyes from ourselves to God; shifting our perspective to what He has done!  Because, “While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving.” 

(Ann Voscamp- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597898910222287&set=a.369461463066034.92483.324577877554393&type=1&theater )