Choose Joy – Session 2

Are you enjoying the journey of becoming a woman of Joy? I am! I desire so much to be the kind of woman that has “deep roots” so when a storm comes “I may bend but I won’t break!” As our group studied chapters 2 and 3 of “Choose Joy” by Kay Warren, we were reminded that it is in our tough times that our truth faith is exposed. Kay goes as far as saying that this is when our faith shows “its true colors.” OUCH You mean people are actually watching how believers react and expect? The answer is YES! If non-believers don’t see a difference in our reaction, why would they desire to seek Jesus? We can recite scripture until we are “blue in the face” but what matters is what we do when the rubber meets the road. (enough cliché’s for now) Kay makes a profound statement when she says “an untested faith is an unreliable faith.” Ever wonder why it is called a TESTimony? She supports her statement by reminding us how Paul and Silas influenced a jailer and his family and eventually led them to Jesus. It wasn’t by a three point sermon or a creative illustration…it was through their faithful actions in the midst of being jailed. As we search for role models that seem to have conquered the “joy” issue, we often overlook the one that overcame it all…Jesus! Kay teaches that Jesus was a man of joy. In his role, He was a man of sorrow, but in His essence, He was a man of joy. We saw that He was a man of joy based on his attitude, words and attitudes. For example, we forget that Jesus used humorous exaggerations to make Biblical points. Through His example, Kay encouraged us to give ourselves “permission” to be joyful. I am excited to see what lies ahead in the coming weeks.