Do This With Joy

Hebrews 13:17

ESV

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Everyone is on my side here. They’re in the bleachers, cheering me on. They are the coaches, giving me pep talks during halftime and timeouts. They can coach me because they first were coached. There's nothing to be mistrusted about them, so therefore there is no reason to not follow what they ask. They never have truly have a day off. While they physically may, I am always lifted up in prayer each day by them, and they fight the battle alongside me. They freely give me the battle plans for success because they had been freely given to. They aren’t perfect by any means, and neither am I. What matters is they are putting in their best to represent the leadership skills of Christ. In one way or another, I’ve seen the character qualities of Christ displayed in the leadership and alumni staff. Secondly, joy is an advantage. As a Christ follower, my joy comes from the Him, and the joy of the Lord is my strength. I couldn't imagine how life would be without the joy I’ve found in Christ, but I can be sure I would have a lot more groaning, a lot more complaining, no joy and no strength. My joy is what allows me to look at a situation and see the good it can bring, to face it head on confidently, and confront it as a lion. And as a result, I have advantage. I take the win in Christ. I can recall plenty of times where receiving with groaning led me into a darkened mindset. Most often I would be asked to do one thing, and then when I finished they'd come back and tell me it was actually to be done another way. It would just make me bitter and impatient that I had to take more of “my” time to do it. But that wasn’t right in any sense. I've learned an immense amount of flexibility through those experiences to the point I can now welcome a change with joy and not find my heart darkened and hardened. There are times I slip but now God catches and convicts me of it, and I can quickly recover into joy and strength again. I can truly believe that there is a team of people on my side, fighting with and for me.