Fight Back with Joy

We’re just 12 days into 2015 and I’ve already faced a couple of very hard situations. Both reduced me to tears and felt like sucker punches to my heart.  Immediately I started replaying the list of the ways I don’t measure up, the ways I’ve failed, the ways I’m not good enough, not loving enough … just not enough. {Please say sometimes you deal with all those feelings too?}

I’d promised myself I’d face this year with a new outlook … that 2015 would be the year I’d chase joy. I just didn’t realize how quickly I was going to be pushed headfirst into situations which would require me to take a stand in my heart on the matter.

The feelings swirled about me as I shared with my husband how hurt I felt by the actions of another. I tried to fight back the tears but they poured out, evidence of the tender place this situation had pricked in my heart.

And then the second disappointment came, just days later. And while I made myself say all the right things, I didn’t believe any of it. Here I was ten days into the year I was claiming JOY as my mantle … and all I felt was hurt and failure and rejection.

Life is hard and brings more difficult days and people and circumstances than any of us would ever choose. But the hard days come and we have to make a decision:

Give up on joy or fight for it.

Margaret Feinberg is a beautiful example of what fighting for joy in the middle of hardship looks like. Two years ago, Margaret was putting the finishing touches on a book about joy. And then she got a phone call. A cancer diagnosis changed everything and the book was pushed aside for treatments and time with family and leaning into the God of all hope.

But what emerged was something she never expected. A book about joy … but not the shiny, happy idea we use on throw pillows and wall art. As she says,

I discovered facets of joy that no one ever taught me—more than whimsy, joy is a weapon we can use to fight life’s battles.

The thing is, no one signs up for that discovery project—finding joy in suffering. No one. I’ve never felt so surefooted on my path to a joyful life. I know now that without shadows, joy can feel shallow. But, when we can discover joy while in the fight of our lives—no matter what that is—it is lasting.

Everyone who has faced a challenge, or who knows someone in the midst, needs a to know that suffering doesn’t win. Joy wins.

Joy wins. Not because we’ll always be happy but because true joy is deep and rich and comes from the abiding presence of Jesus in our lives.

Fight Back with Joy is a gift to all of us who wonder what to do with suffering and heartache. Margaret’s vulnerability becomes our own guide to the depths of true joy and the victory we find over the trials of this life when we live in joy.

The two hard situations I mentioned are probably not the only ones I’ll face in 2015. And it’s possible these two will resurface time and again over the coming months. But I have a choice … to wallow in despair and hurt or to fight back, to chase joy.

And guess what? I choose joy. Even when it comes the hard way, even when I have to fight to find it, even when it’s hard.

Maybe you are in a difficult season of life. Maybe you are struggling with a hard relationship.  Maybe you are feeling “not enough” like I was. Or maybe you just want to learn more about what joy really is … get this book. Do the DVD study with your Bible study group. Read the book with friends.

Make 2015 the year you FIGHT BACK WITH JOY!!

xo,

TL

Fight Back With Joy 6-Session DVD Bible Study Promo Video from Margaret Feinberg on Vimeo.

About Fight Back with Joy

Great Joy Waits in Life’s Greatest Battles

Joy is stamped on coffee mugs, sewn onto decorative pillows—even displayed on dish soap. But what if there’s a deeper power and purpose to this mighty virtue?

Through vulnerable storytelling, a difficult diagnosis, and a good dose of humor, Margaret Feinberg reveals how joy is more than whimsy. It’s the weapon you can use to fight life’s battles. Fight Back With Joy will help you:

• Expand your joy threshold by awakening to God’s fierce love for you
• Escape fear and regret by applying biblical strategies to whatever crisis you’re facing
• Overcome depression as you reignite your imagination for laughter and celebration
• Discover freedom from the past by learning how to turn mourning into joy
• Rise above endless demands and become more winsome, cheerful, and thankful

No matter what your circumstances, you can practice defiant joy. When you do, you will embrace a life that’s richer and fuller than you’ve ever known before—a life radiant with joy.

Purchase your copy on Amazon {http://mar.cta.gs/0bi} or at Barnes & Noble {http://mar.cta.gs/0bh} or get the DVD study {http://mar.cta.gs/0aq}.