“She laughs without fear of the future. – Proverbs 31:25”

This is what the front of (one of) my current journals says. Pa (my stepdad) gave it to me for Christmas, and I was so excited to use it since my other journal was running out of space. I already knew that I loved the verse the cover displayed, but this morning I read a devotional, and experienced a testimony that truly captured this verse’s meaning.

I’ve been going back through the Jesus Calling devotional since it’s been a few years since I picked it up. Plus, it allows me to get a little of the Word in in the morning, and then I can dive into a deeper devotional at night. This morning’s read was about “the secret things belonging to God,” and how that included the future, and how so many times, we worry about the future: what will happen, who will still be in our lives, what events will occur. I am definitely guilty of doing so, although, not as much as I used to be. But even so, any worry that I may have is rebellion against trusting God, so I must practice less worry, and more trust and faith.

This is only ONE way in which the cover of my journal is true. After finishing my morning mediations, I got on social media, and saw that I was tagged in a post by my dear soul sister Ariel Evans, who turned thirty yesterday. She’s been doing a countdown on her Instagram, and she posted a video this morning saying a huge “thank you” to those who have loved her and supported her through the years and up to now.

She briefly touched on how sometimes she would use her laughter, her joy, her dancing to mask the pain she was feeling, but how she truly overflows with pure joy (and I believe and can see that she does!). And it got me thinking how I would often still smile, laugh, and give off a display of joy, yet deep down, might still be fearful or doubtful of the present moment and what God has planned for the future.

I believe it’s easy to do this though, especially with social media. We can always portray ourselves as something we’re not, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, even spiritually. But I do believe that we are still capable of having true joy, smiling and dancing, and still acknowledging that there is pain and fear in our midst. There’s a major difference between this, and pretending that these negative emotions don’t exist as we go through them, and I’m grateful to have a sister-in-Christ such as Ariel, who displays an example of this so wonderfully!

So, while it may seem difficult to strive for what this verse in Proverbs says by “laughing without fear of the future,” I think it’s just as powerful to still laugh and admit that we have a fear of the future, but that we’re striving towards having more faith in God instead! We won’t get it perfect all the time, but I believe God sees our efforts, and that His strength will assist us in our growth towards faith!

Do you think you have true joy? What does that look like for you? Have you been able to celebrate and still laugh despite any fear or doubt you may have? Do you pretend that these negative emotions aren’t there, or do you admit their presence as you push to have true joy?

Please be sure to follow my poetry sis Ariel Evans on her social platforms, and order her self-published book Simply Thoughts on Amazon! 🌻💛
Instagram & Twitter: @simplyarirenee
Website: https://simplyarirenee.wixsite.com/simplyarirenee
Order Simply Thoughts: https://amzn.to/2IjBlDd

Mishy 🦋