I am a bit of a quote junkie. I love to read things which inspire me. I, like most people, like, and even need to be encouraged. Sometimes I need an encouraging word more than once a day... Sometimes it's more than 5 times a day. (Don't act like you don't have those days too, you aren't fooling anyone but yourself.) Today, one of the several quote accounts I follow on Twitter posted the following: "Take an eraser to erase those tears, then take a pencil and draw a smile on your face." Instantly, my brain said, "aw, that's a great line". Almost as quickly, another thought hit me; "why on earth would I ever want to draw a smile on with a PENCIL?!". As is usually the case, conflicting thoughts (especially those which come in such rapid succession) sends my brain into hyperdrive, most of the time, resulting in a journal or blog post. Here are my jumbled thoughts:
A smile on a face represents joy, happiness, peace, etc.
The word "smile", is mentioned 3 times in the bible. Joy, is mentioned 188 times. Peace appears 384 times... 577 times, the emotions a smile represents are mentioned. 577 times in 66 books is a LOT.
James, Chapter 1, is one of my favorite passages, more particularly, verses 2 - 4: "2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
Count it all joy... .. ... ALL OF IT?! That IS what the scripture says... When you are facing trials, even the ones which feel bigger than Kilimanjaro stacked on top of Everest. Even when those closest to you hurt you the deepest. And even when you feel as if nearly all hope is lost... Count it ALL joy. My take is we should TRY to maintain a smile, at all times, even if it means smiling through the tears. I put added emphasis on the word, "TRY", because there will always be times when the smile is temporarily faded. But, faded doesn't mean it's gone; something faded simply needs to be repainted... restained, if you will. Our salvation is bought with the ultimate price, the very blood of Jesus... Our lives are STAINED with His redeeming blood. Without salvation, there can never be TRUE, LASTING JOY, therefore I believe that even when our smiles are faded, they simply need to be restained by our Saviour, for HE is the source of all joy.
One of our dear friends, Sonny (who happens to be a superhero in disguise... without the tights...), posted this thought yesterday: "Funny how "blessings" can make us drift away from God sometimes, and our "trials" can pull us closer. Maybe we have the two confused?". I think I may have had such a strong reaction to the quote about erasing tears & drawing smiles is because Sonny's thought already had my mind whirling.
I feel Sonny hit the nail directly on the head and straight through the board in one strike with this thought. So many of the things I first thought were "blessings" turned out to be ravenous wolves, dressed in innocent lambs clothing. There have been so many more times, when I felt as if the pain of a "trial" would literally kill me, I have become stronger, more determined, and unwavering in my faith... THOSE have been the greatest blessings of my life. Even when the hurt or confusion seems blinding and unbearable, SMILE... Joy comes in the morning... Joy also returns after the mourning.
With all of these thoughts racing through my head, I have come to this conclusion:
I would rather forget the pencil alltogether and simply be holding on to an ink pen. I want to draw my smile on with something permanant. Pencil markings fade into nonexistance over time and must be completely redrawn. While ink does fade, it rarely disappears and can easily be restained to it's rightful beauty.
I can't be the only one who is still amazed by rainbows, especially rainbows which appear while it's still storming. I don't want to erase the tears, as they are generally a part of the cleansing proces... A spiritual rain of sorts. When we smile through our tears, it shows that the storm we are facing will not destroy us. Our storms are simply a part of the molding process... A way for the Master Potter to mold and shape us into who HE has designed us to be.
I want my smile to be a permanant fixture, something lasting; a promise of life after the rain.
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