FINDING JOY IN THE JOURNEY

Are we experiencing joy in our journey through life, or do we find ourselves complaining about the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer? Are we begrudging the people and situations around us, or celebrating and seeing the good??

Think of ancient Israel. Despite the miracles and their incredible deliverance from Egypt, their story was one of constant complaining against Moses and the Lord. Rather than?rejoicing in the fact that God was leading them to a land of promise, they murmured and wallowed in their challenges.

These examples show us that when we begin to murmur, and complain, we stop being thankful and our focus shifts from seeing God’s mercy, love, and power to seeing the obstacles and hardships of our daily life.

Neal L. Maxwell said, “A basic cause of murmuring is that too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations.” We forget that part of our journey through life is to grow and gain experience.

The law of attraction teaches us that what we focus on grows. Therefore, if we choose to focus on God and His goodness, that is what we will see and experience more of in our life. Russul M. Nelson taught the same thing when he said, "The joy we feel has little to do with the?circumstances?of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." “When the focus of our lives is on?Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening — or not happening — in our lives,”

If we are seeking more joy in our lives, let’s choose to focus more on Jesus Christ and his goodness, especially in those areas where we typically murmur. Doing so will help us see more clearly God’s hand in our life and the blessings that are all around us.?=)