Enjoy Your Everyday Life
The only life you can enjoy is your own. That statement may seem so obvious it's unnecessary, but think about it. One of the primary reasons many people do not enjoy their lives is that they are not happy with the lives they have. When I speak to people about enjoying their lives, one of the first thoughts they have is, I would enjoy my life a whole lot more if I had your life, Joyce!
Instead of embracing the realities of their own lives, these people spend their time thinking, I wish I looked like so-and-so. I wish I had so-and-so's job. I wish I was married. I wish my marriage wasn't so difficult. I wish I had children. I wish my children would grow up. I wish I had a new house. I wish I didn't have such a big house to clean.
The truth is, the first step to enjoying our everyday lives is accepting the lives we've been given. We must not allow jealousy or comparison to cause us to discount our own lives because we want someone else's life.
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The wise king Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:18,19, Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] part. Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God [to him] (The Amplified Bible).
I want you to notice the words "allotted part" and "appointed lot" in these verses. What Solomon is trying to communicate here is to simply enjoy your life! Take your "appointed lot" in life and enjoy it. In other words, embrace the life—the personality, the strengths and weaknesses, the family, resources, opportunities, physical qualities, abilities, gifts, and uniqueness—God has given you.
Maybe you struggle with things that do not appear to be challenges for other people. For example, you may have a physical handicap or a learning disability. Perhaps you wanted to go to college but could not. Maybe you do not believe you have as many outstanding qualities or remarkable gifts as someone else. You may wish something were different about your spouse, your children, your job, or your financial situation. Whatever the case, you must take what you have and decide that you are going to do the best you can with it. After all, your life will not change until you start doing so.
You have to be happy with your life. God has given you everything you have for a reason—and on purpose. Everything about you is by His design. I am not encouraging you to settle for situations that need to be improved, but I am urging you to accept the way God made you and the life He has given you. Don't complain, don't compare, don't desire someone else's life, and don't spend your valuable time wishing things were different.
Realize that every life includes good and bad, happy and sad, easy and difficult, strengths and weaknesses. Your life is similar to others' lives when you look at it from a broad perspective. There may be certain specific differences, but remember, nobody has the perfect life.
Determine today to take the first step toward learning to enjoy your everyday life by making the most of your life. Embrace your life because God is not going to give you someone else's!
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Author/teacher Joyce Meyer has been helping people overcome life's problems through biblical keys to practical Christian living since 1976. Her radio and television programs are broadcast throughout the United States and much of the world. For additional information, you may contact Joyce Meyer Ministries at P.O. Box 655, Fenton, Missouri 63026 or visit www.joycemeyer.org.
© 2007 Printed with permission of Joyce Meyer Ministries
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