Have you ever had a food fantasy? My favorite is a free all-you-can-eat buffet. 24/7. And with no consequences! 😀
I was born hungry, and for years I thought I was the only one who loved eating more than anything else. How ironic that most of my life I’ve dealt with food-related challenges: health, dental, digestive, weight, emotional, etc. But bittersweet because the hard times just make me even more grateful for the blessing of eating good food.
Today I came across a verse that jumped right off the page:
“He who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.”
(Proverbs 15:15)
Wow! Sounds good to me! As much as we all enjoy eating, there’s something far greater and more deeply satisfying than the temporary pleasure food brings.
It’s free, and it keeps going on and on! But just how do we get a merry heart? Especially in today’s world.
For me, joy, happiness and a merry heart results from the choices we make. Our wise Creator has so lovingly formed our brains, bodies and emotions to harvest the fruit of happiness from consistently sowing His seeds of hope. There are things we can do to grow our joy.
Here’s what is helping me:
- Choose to trust Him. “Whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he.” (Proverbs 16:20) A merry heart results from us taking those steps of faith, trusting who God is and what He has said.
- Choose to rejoice in Him. “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:18) Regardless of our circumstances we can always rejoice in our Savior!
. - Choose merry actions. Give thanks, sing songs of praise, laugh, dance, make silly faces, smile! “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” (James 5:13) The more we actively live in joy, the more we will feel it. A great thing I learned from my counselor is that “emotion follows motion.” Sometimes we have to do before we can feel.
The more we feed on these uplifting things, the merrier our hearts. And the merrier our hearts, the more we’ll find ourselves doing these things! Isn’t God good?
And before you know it, the feast begins. 😊
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“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
(Psalm 37:3-4)
