Contagious Joy

"The more joy we have in our heart, even in the midst of busyness,
and craziness, the more people can see Christ through us."

On the outside, the life of a NET team looks like it's mostly fun and games. On retreats we are all high-energy, we play fun games, and each week we even have a team day where we are obligated to have FUN together. While the lifestyle of NET is full of fun, it's easy to get bogged down with the weight of ministry. We are high-energy and happy during retreat but it's all too easy to bring our exhaustion and stresses to team life in the office. This exhaustion isn't exclusive to NET - everyone experiences it. We can enjoy one part of our day and find ourselves completely stressed out the next moment.

As a team, iNFUSE 2 has been working to figure out what to do with all of our anxieties and we have learned that by offering our worries and problems to the Lord, and really letting Him take our problems from us, we are filled with trust and joy that we can turn back to praise. Joy is a choice, and giving our problems to the Lord makes room in our hearts to effectively cultivate that joy. 

It's all too easy to talk about our struggles because often our struggles seem so much bigger than the joys in our lives. We would rather find a solution to the problem that is at hand than look and see the beauty that is actively working in our lives - the beauty which Christ Himself is showing us. It's a trap, really. The more that we focus on our stresses and try to solve our problems the more problems and stresses we run into. However, when our first response to stress is to give it to the Lord, we make room in our hearts to see the joy and peace that the Lord surrounds us with. And that joy is contagious! The more joy we have in our heart, even in the midst of busyness, and craziness, the more people can see Christ through us. The joy of the Lord is just that - it's only found in the Lord. Our joy and willingness to seek Christ in our problems encourages others to do that same in their lives. 

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. 1 Peter 3:15

Seek Christ, give Him your heart, and He will turn your worries to praise and joy! May the joy of the Gospel be contagious in you!

Peace,

Jillian and the rest of iNFUSE 2 (John, Jacob, Joey, Whitney, Ashley, and Rachel)