Ok Bob, happy face or sad face...????

It's in the strangest places that God chooses to show me bits and pieces of his wisdom. In the special needs preschool I have the privilege of working in, I have been given a "challenge". For HIPPA purposes, we'll call this "challenge" Bob.

Now, in my years of working with emotionally disturbed children, Bob takes the cake in the aggressive and hard to deal with department. In fact, this week alone, I have been called multiple vulgarities, kicked in the shins, punched in the stomach and slapped. Mind you, this kid is 4 years old, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree... but that's another blog for another time.

We've explained to Bob countless times, that it's up to him what kind of day he will have. Every morning we start fresh with a happy face, and every day that Bob makes the wrong choices he walks out the door with a sad face. The common response we get when he's asked to do something is "but, I don't want to" to which we reply... "life is full of times when we have to do what we don't want to do." Bob just doesn't seem to get it...

This morning as a chair came hurling toward my legs, I though to myself, "this is the kind of resistance that God gets from me every day of my life".... BUT I DON'T WANT TO!!!! Bob has his chance every day to choose how the day is going to go... happy face or sad face. Sounds strikingly like the choices we are given every day, huh?

Joy or sorrow? Victory or defeat? Obedience or disobedience?

Now, I'm not saying that we aren't given circumstances in life that make it more difficult some days than others... I'm just saying that when it comes down to it, this simple preschool lesson is very biblical. Just as Bob has to choose each morning if he will have a happy face or a sad face, we control so much of how are days progress. We don't choose our circumstances, but we most definitely choose our response!

"Choose you this day whom you will serve," Joshua 24:15.

So, do you choose to hang your head in defeat, believing that your circumstances have gotten the best of you? Or, do you choose to believe the promises made to us by our Savior, that he has and continues to overcome the enemy? Do you choose to walk in your own direction, ignoring the guidance and commands that God has laid out? Or, do you choose to walk in obedience... even when it's hard?

Plainly put, happy face or sad face....??? Just like in Bob's case, it's not always easy to have a "happy face", but it is our choice.

So, today's a new day... What will you choose????