A Cheerful Heart

Today we took our family Christmas pictures. It was a lot of fun, but trying to wrangle eleven people (two of which are small children) and get everyone dressed and looking their best is no simple task. Today some things got pushed to the back burner in preparation for taking the photos. One of those tasks was the dishes. In a house this big even one meal can load the sink with dirty dishes. I ran a load in the dishwasher last night which needed to be unloaded before we could load the dirty dishes in.

As I faced the mountain of dishes there was a part of me that wished someone else would do them for me, or if I ignored them long enough they'd just go away on their own. And then I was reminded of Proverbs 15:13 (KJV) which says:

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.:

I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit telling me to be glad that I have a faithful husband who works hard outside of the home so that I can stay at home and tend to the family. I smiled and grabbed the scrubbing brush and dish soap with a sense of gladness in my heart. It's amazing how quickly our mundane tasks go by when we have a merry heart as we do them.

Don't get me wrong - I am a fallen human being and I have normal human emotions. I am not a Stepford Wife who smiles every time a crisis arises and says, "oh, happy day! I'm so glad things are falling apart around me!" With that said, if I let everything I do around here get me down I would have a broken spirit, which is completely contrary to what the Lord wants for us. He says in Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

God's intent is for us to have a merry heart and be free from our burdens, for Christ bore that burden for us on the cross. The other day I observed something quite disheartening, and I shared this with my mother. I said, "have you ever noticed when you're out in public how many people just look angry, frustrated and sad?" People don't smile any more. They grit their teeth as they yank their children around the grocery store and load their carts up with unhealthy convenience foods, for the prospect of cooking frustrates them even further. They are short with the cashiers because they are in a hurry and don't want to be doing what they are doing. Maybe they are women working a job in which they are degraded by their employers and wish they could be at home with their children. Perhaps it is a husband who is upset that he knows when he gets home he will be greeted with a messy, disorganized home and a wife with a nagging spirit.

What sort of testimony could we be for the Lord if we went out in public with a spirit of gladness, a merry heart and a cheerful countenance? How much would we bless our families if we approached life knowing that Jesus has asked us to take His yoke, for it is easy and light?