getting through our difficulties – Healing with Joy https://healing-with-joy.com Helping people find help for their hurts Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:42:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 The “Red Lights” of life! https://healing-with-joy.com/the-red-lights-of-life/ https://healing-with-joy.com/the-red-lights-of-life/#comments Fri, 02 May 2025 14:20:49 +0000 https://healing-with-joy.com/?p=2346 By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC

In a dream: I am sitting at a table with a team of people chosen to counsel a woman whose driving had caused a death. She was stunned to the core. Her mind could not receive the truth: Her carelessness had taken the life of another by breaking a “rule of the road.”

In the dream, I felt the horror this woman would soon feel once she could grasp the truth. I felt great sorrow for her knowing how exceedingly awful this realization would become for her.

I awakened to the fact that person could have been me. Last week, I was dealing with what felt to be too much to handle. Already, life was pushing me in the direction of fearing “what’s going to come next.” I was rushing my days, pushing through—even to the point of entering the intersection on a yellow light . . . moving right on through it. I am ashamed to say there was a twinge of satisfaction in making it. For a couple of moments I rushed it—and “saw red.” This, in face of the truth, that I almost never have allowed myself this breach in the “rules of the road.”

The dream showed me the truth. My squeaking through any yellow could have killed someone. I awakened from the dream still feeling oh-so-sorry for this woman who would have to face up to the result of her behavior . . . while also “seeing” how all that awfulness would come to my psyche had her truth become my own. I thanked God for this dream! There would be no more running a yellow light for me!

Hebrews 10: 18, says, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” This being a fact with “the laws of man”– how much more so is it true with “the laws of God? And, if I fail to obey the laws of man am I fooling myself to think God and I are on the same page?

What if we could live each day of our lives captivated–and in complete awe of God . . . realizing what He is doing (and has done) in our lives? His plan is to bring us to Himself. Throughout and within our experiences and trails—God is growing us–getting us ready to live with Him in eternity’s “forever.”

VIEW FREE- – at Healing-with-Joy.com Joy’s children’s book titled: The Little Mountain Goat Who Was Afraid of High Places. There, you will also find many helpful articles for people who are struggling with varied difficulties. All is free to use, simply credit this website.

 

]]> https://healing-with-joy.com/the-red-lights-of-life/feed/ 1 The milk of human kindness https://healing-with-joy.com/the-milk-of-human-kindness/ Sat, 11 Jul 2020 16:46:59 +0000 https://healing-with-joy.com/wordpress/?p=252

By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA

A while back this column made mention of the “mother of pearl” that oysters create in response to wounds of varied kinds caused by tiny irritants that wedge their way into the oyster’s shell. It is a marvel how the oyster then can turn these grains of sand, undeveloped eggs or parasites into pearls of differing shapes in beautiful colors.
Amidst our varying degrees of hardships we have the scriptures. Reading them indicates for me something akin to the oyster’s effectual secretion within our spiritual journey. Reference is made here to the empowerment of our lives that results through following the instruction in Philippians 4:4 to “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
That passage further instructs, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” That sounds like flexibility . . . rolling with the punches. Still, we do have our times of thinking, “I’ve had it! Something has got to give.”
This happened over the 4th of July. A neighbor began an outdoor “concert” of percussion “music” Saturday morning. It was non-stop until late in the day on Monday. Gary and I heard the constant pounding, for well past two days, to the point of near exasperation. There was no place in the house where we did not hear the “bam, bam, ba-bam” of drums with base tuned high. It was an offensive, continuous detonation of undesirable sounds.
“So, Mother of Pearl, wherefore art thou?” It comes through our praying, first for whoever could be so obnoxious. I decided to forgive rather than to keep harboring castigating thoughts about “those abominate-backwater-bedeviling irritants!” (Oops, I’ve spilt the “milk.”)
After a while, I was able to say, “Lord, I’m going to be patient. I’ll turn this all over to you, wear my ear buds and see what you can do about it.” (Yes, the police had been called.) I submitted my ire and ilk to God, asking Him to help me be patient so I could wait it out. Then, there was the concern that the police might be too busy to come.” But, in a few hours they did!
Surely, Philippians 4:4, is “the best of milk.” calling us to “thank God for things that are “noble” . . . things that are “just, pure and lovely.” (Keep our minds on the “good stuff.” Why? Because it lifts us up, taking us above our rough spots. The “good reports”—and praiseworthy happenstances do exist. We have only to look for them.
Recalling the Scriptures and changing my thoughts brought the milk of human kindness. Our noisy neighbor, most likely visiting for the holiday, brought prayer to my heart. No wonder pearls are considered to be among the most precious gems. The oyster’s suffering is what created them. There is no doubt our suffering does the same when we hold steady with the truths of scriptures consistently applying these truths to our lives.
We do not have the power to make “pearls” on our own. God helps us to do so when we turn to Him, becoming more reliant on Him for “help.”

Author’s nudge: Check Healing-with-joy.com home page for many helpful posts dealing with daily difficulties. For other opportunities to read Joy’s writings visit her newest site Healingwithjoy.blogspot.com

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