Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. “I waited patiently on the Lord” this morning and it didn’t take long before “He turned to me and heard my cry”. He never ceases to amaze me. If I do my part He’ll always do His. My heart was heavy this morning for no good reason at all, and when my heart is heavy; He’s the only Way to make it leap for Joy all over again. So, to Him I run…and sometimes “I wait”…and within no time at all “He turns to me” and He wipes away my tears and He reminds me of all the reasons that I have to be consumed with Joy. There’s nothing in the world that compares to an Attitude Adjustment straight from the Throne of God and there’s no greater Joy than time with Him…the Living Waters…my Redeemer and my King. Isn’t that the way you deal with a heavy heart too?

It can be so easy to surrender to a heavy heart if we aren’t careful. Sometimes life feels like a lot to bear with seemingly no end in sight, and sometimes it makes no good sense for why the heart is heavy at all! Some people “hide” their heavy heart from the rest of the world as if there is some sort of shame for them to be struggling; but not me. My feelings aren’t unnatural and they don’t need to make sense to the rest of the world, because they come as no surprise to the King! The Bible is filled with stories of people that found themselves with a heavy heart for different reasons, and Words of comfort and encouragement straight from the Throne of a Mighty God can be found IF we just look for them. God understands a heavy heart whether the rest of the world does or not, and He’s always ready to restore the heart if we just reach out to Him and “wait patiently” until He “turns to” us and He’ll ALWAYS hear our cry! The Bible says that God stores up every tear we shed in our entire lifetime in a jar like a treasure, and that One Day He’ll wipe all of our tears away for good! Now that’s a God of compassion and the One that understands a heavy heart better than anybody else on the planet. Being reminded of His Love and His Compassion is enough to lift even the heaviest of hearts…IF we turn to Him and “wait patiently” for Him. This is the Key to our Joy!

I wear my heart on my sleeve for all the world to see day after day. When I’m happy the world knows it. When I’m scared the world knows it. When I’m overwhelmed the world knows it. When I’m doing battle because of my Faith the world knows it. When I’m feeling discouraged the world knows it. I’m not transparent as a means of getting attention. I don’t look for a pity party and I never speak up in search of a sympathy card. I’m transparent so that I might be an encouragement to all those people too afraid or too ashamed to speak up when their heart becomes heavy and they convince themselves that nobody on the planet understands what they feel. You’ ll never find me moping or feeling sorry for myself when my heart becomes heavy, that’s for sure. Instead you’ll find me going to the Source of my Joy with everything I’ve got, and if you hang around, you’ll be eye-witness to how easily my heavy heart can be turned around when I shamelessly give it to Him. I turn to Him…and I wait patiently…and I have NO DOUBT that’s He’ll show up…and NO DOUBT that He’ll understand…and NO DOUBT that He’ll wipe away my tears and remind of the millions of reasons I have to be consumed with Joy. He’ll always do His part; as long as I do mine.

The heart that was heavy this morning has been Tended to by the King of Kings and it now overflows with Joy. I might need a Heavenly reminder throughout this day, or until my heavy heart doesn’t feel so heavy anymore, but I know where to go for my Strength and my Joy when I need it. And as long as I do my part; He’ll always do His.

How about you?