The Case for Wearing Rose-Colored Glasses
I have always struggled with fear and (no surprise here) I have learned that fear cancels out joy. Fear, anxiety, and apprehension are significant depleters of energy. They squelch opportunities for Joy.
In devotional book (April 24th entry) Jesus Calling, Sarah Evans writes “[y]our fear often manifests itself in excessive planning.” For those of us with control issues, being open to spontaneous thoughts or happenings is a challenge. We are so consumed with trying to orchestrate every moment of our day that we regularly leave no room for Joy.
I submit to you that joylessness is not an inviting attribute. But, fear not, the Bible tells us in Psalms 34:4-5that all we have to do is ask God and He’ll deliver us from our fears and make us Radiant with Joy. The Oxford American Dictionary defines “radiant” as looking very bright and happy; transmitting heat or energy. I think everyone would be attracted to someone who looks bright and happy and transmits energy, don’t you?
On FaceBook I’ve seen several posts about boys and men who have a genetic color-blindness that affects males. They are shown receiving specialized corrective lens eyeglasses which allow them to see, for the very first time, all the colors that they’ve been missing all their lives. Without exception, these boys and men dissolve into joyful tears at the wondrous gift they’ve been given. They can now see something that’s been there all along --- but which they’ve never had the ability to perceive. I submit to you that Joy is all around us, we just need to don the correct lens in which to perceive it.
I think we need to use “rose -colored glasses”. As defined by Wiktionary, metaphorically seeing through rose-colored glasses is having an optimistic perception of something; a positive opinion; seeing something in a positive way.
Our special corrective lenses are fashioned by reading and understanding God’s word. One thing the Bible tells us: “As a man thinketh in his heart…so is he.” (Proverbs 27: 7a) By optimistically perceiving thing with my rose-colored glasses, I THINK I have a joyful life … so I do. Could it really just that simple?
This is not to say, of course, that there will never be troubles or struggles in our lives. The Bible tells us there will be troubles in this life. (Job 14:1, John 16:33) It rains on the just as well as the unjust. (Matthew 5:45) There will be days where we may not FEEL joyful. Things may not be rosy. But if we, just as athletes train their bodies, regularly train our minds to be aware of Joy, the warmth and security of that inner joy will make it easier to endure the hard times. We must choose to don our glasses.
The Word says that our hope and our joy in God is inexhaustible. Psalm 136 tells us He is good and that His mercy endures forever. I am ineffably comforted by God’s steadfast, never-changing love. His attitude towards me provides the security I need and forms the basis of a Joy that will never be diluted or fade away. So since I’m assured of God’s unchanging love and regard towards me, I can stop worrying, planning, fretting. Ridding myself of those negative, time-consuming emotions, allows me to focus on all the little things that I see with my rose-colored glasses and which make me happy. When you combine these little happy things with the fact that the Creator of the Universe loves you and cares about you, you really perceive life see in a different way. Your entire mental outlook is transformed --- just like those men who saw vivid colors for the very first time!
So here are this week’s little, happy, Joy-producing observations:
I received a new Kindle for Christmas.
I found a new bag of Red Hots that I didn’t remember I had.
I am not, in fact, in trouble with my Homeowners’ Association.
A meeting with difficult people got cancelled.
My leg hair has apparently stopped growing---no more shaving required.
What do YOU see with your rose-colored glasses?