
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
(Psalm 103: 1 NASB)
For a few days, I fed on news reports, set no boundaries on my Google searches, and paid no attention to the time I spent doing this. As this activity increased, so did the level of anger, anxiety, and depression in my soul.
Last night I went to bed. I tossed and turned for a long time. After sleeping for three hours, I woke up. The same negative feelings flooded my mind. ”
What could I do?
Help me, God!” I prayed.
Nothing happened. My feelings did not change. I repeated my prayer.
“Help me! Help me! Help me!”
I waited. Repeated my prayer. Waited.
After a while, these words from Psalm 103 popped into my mind–
“Bless the Lord, my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.”
I continued repeating and meditating on this verse, eventually fell asleep, and woke with a joyful melody in my heart. What relief!
In this season of isolation and uncertainty, it would easy for me to fall back into anger, anxiety, and depression. What can I do to increase and maintain joy in my heart so that when Thanksgiving arrives (in 12 days), when Christmas arrives (in 41 days), and when 2021 arrives (in 47 days), I can celebrate truly celebrate?
This is my plan to increase and maintain a joyful heart. I will change my focus to one of gratitude. Every day, for the next 47 days, I will
- Read Psalm 103 (verses 1-5), reflect on God’s blessings, and thank him for them
- Write down as many gratitude statements as I can think of
- Read them aloud before I go to bed
- Read all of them on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years’ day
- Send a “Thank you” message or affirmation to at least one person
How joyful is your heart? Does it need a little encouragement? If so, I invite you to join me and adopt my action plan. Start as soon as you can.
Or make up a action plan of your own. Share it with me and/or someone else.