As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

Proverbs 27:19

Today I hurriedly chose a shirt, one that was at the end of the rotation, to wear to my daughter’s school for an event and would work for church in the evening. The shirt I chose, said choose joy and had a rainbow above it, but that morning I was not choosing joy. I had forgotten my daughter’s water cup on the day I was supposed to serve ice cream and attend an athletic event at her school.  I was worried I would not have time to get her what she needed before I had to be somewhere else. In a few short moments my calm, collective life rippled and swirled into a wave of blame shifting, grumbling, and complaining. Choosing joy should have reminded me to accept my mistake, make it right, accept my lack of time management, my need to plan better and accept the help I needed instead of being prideful thinking I could do it all on my own. My water reflection was pushing me to seek the calm and not the wave. I should be grateful that just like water that can quickly move, swirl, and disappear it can also be made new and provide refreshment. After confessing to the Lord my need for His help and asking forgiveness from the ones I had complained to, I went on to talk about the fruit of the spirit joy to the preschool in the evening.

Choosing Joy

My choosing joy rainbow shirt then became the example to the class. The same shirt that had brought me to conviction to seek and choose joy would soon be used to explain about Noah. Noah chose joy day after day, when others did not acknowledge the Lord or seek to follow Him. But for Noah, the water reflection showed a man after God, someone who saw the reality that God wanted us to follow Him, that this home was temporary. The trials of our daily life here was nothing compared to the home Noah would be headed to.  Unlike all those around him, Noah chose to focus on the positive, the good things the Lord graciously gave him. This mindset, this relationship, this ability to choose joy and do what he was called to do was what set him apart to the Lord. For Noah, this water reflection was his deliverance, it was because of his joy in uncertainty that made him stand out, set him apart, that God saw in him. For Noah, the water reflection reflected a heart fully devoted to the Lord ready to serve joyfully until God moved him out of those circumstances. Noah’s deliverance was the ark that moved him out of the rain, the mud, the flood, to keep him safe and dry; and allowed him to land safely in a new place, with a new start, a place where he immediately chose joy and thanked and praised the Lord for his deliverance. So, when you are faced with trials, irritations, the day to day remember that Noah faced these and ridicule every day for years, yet he chose the Lord, he chose the joy only the Lord can offer. Noah desired that his water reflection showed what was on the inside, a heart full of joy for the Lord, ready, willing and waiting for the Lord to deliver him. If you are like me, you can be convicted of your reactions that sometimes do not reflect the joy of the Lord, if that is you today, confess it to the Lord, make it right with others and choose joy right now, let your water reflection reflect the Lord and let all those around you see it as well.