THE GLAD GAME

Psalm 100:2  "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing."

I watched the old movie 'Polyanna' on TV this afternoon while I was cooking.  I found myself laughing, crying, and hearing so much from the Lord during this time.  I love the fact that even when I watch something on TV that the Lord will sit with me, making comments, showing me how even such as a simple movie can reflect His Word, and draw men to Him, if they will but yield to Him.

This little girl, Polyanna, played a game, called the Glad Game.  No matter how bad something was, she found something to be glad about, and it changed her attitude.  It also changed the attitudes of the people in this little town, as she taught the game to them.  She was used by the Lord to give insight and correction to the pastor there as she told him the number of times that glad was used in the Bible.  She said it was over 800 times.  I don't think the actual word glad is used that often, but derivatives of the word is used over and over; glad, joy, rejoice, joyful, gladness, merry.  All words indicating happy, delighted, gratified, joyful, cheerful, merry as given in the dictionary.

What I gained from this movie more so than the drawing of the people together, and that was a beautiful thing, a heartfelt thing; but that as Polyanna said, if the Lord used a word so many times He must have wanted us to take special notice of it.  What is it that tends to attract so many people to the tragedies of life, to the misfortunate things that happen.  Why do you think so many people have their computers wiped out by virus for following threads that proclaim something bad that happened to some celebrity, or some politician?  Are we so focused on the bad that we overlook what our Lord has done for our lives, for our futures. 

When I make a mistake, or know I do something that will, once again, take me around the mountain, I don't picture my Father frowning down at me, mad at me, I see Him smiling at me, joyously knowing that just because I failed, I was not giving up, I was going to continue to follow Him and strive to be more like my Lord each day.  And the very fact that I see Him smiling at me, causes me to be glad, to be of good cheer.  Gladness is indeed contagious.....but so is misery.  If you are miserable and all you do is talk about it, and how horrible everything is, how rotten this world is, before you know it all those around you will be in the same boat with you.  They will be in that boat, but they will be blaming you for their misery.  Would you not rather have them in the boat of gladness, and be rejoicing with you that you shared that joy with them.  When most people are miserable they are certainly not rejoicing in the Lord, and they are definitely not showing His love and grace to others.  No one wants to be like a miserable person, no one will believe that this person has the Lord inside of them; or that the Lord, our Lord, is loving and kind.  Forgive us, Father; once again, we are at the foot of the cross.  Forgive our pessimism, our thoughts of gloom, doom and dispair.  These are the things of the world, not the things of our Lord, of His Kingdom. 

The things of the Lord, the message of the Lord are forgiveness, mercy, grace, peace and joy.  Joy, that is a derivative of glad. Gladness is a thing of the Lord.  He certainly wants us to be filled with His gladness, with His joy.   

So for tomorrow, first thing, whether the weather is bad, or if the bones are hurting, or if you feel so tired, take a deep breath of the joy, of the gladness of the Lord, and play the glad game.  There is something you can be glad of, for you are a child of the Most High God.  There is such delight, such gladness in just being a child of God. And when you remember that you are a friend of God, smiles of gladness should be stretching across your face.

My Lord God, thank You for the lovely time together with You watching this little movie. I thank You Lord that You take the time to put Your thoughts into my heart using everything I see and do as an example of Your continued love for me; of Your neverending instruction and lessons to me; those things I can use to spread the message of Your love and forgiveness, Your peace and most importantly ...... your joy, your gladness. 

I will always be glad...."when they say unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord". 

01-29-12