Recieving joy

Do you ever just wake up in the morning in a rotten mood? Nothing triggered it really, it's just how you woke up and nothing you do seems to get you out of it. This happens to me on occasion. (more occasions than I would like!) When I am in this state of "grumpiness, sometimes it seems like no matter what I try I just can't seem to shake it. Anything and everything gets on my nerves, and anything that could be wrong in my mind seems to be wrong. It is like I am sitting in this pit and although I know I need to get out, it is just easier to stay there than figure out how to get out. That is how I started me day today.

Everyone in the house was irritating me, and on top of it all I walked out to my car this morning to a flat tire. I thought that I was going to just get it plugged at Wal-mart (there was an obvious nail in the tread) but when I got there I was informed that the nail was too close to the side wall and would need a whole new tire. A $125 new tire! Now the guys at Walmart were on my bad list today too! After 3 more places told me the exact same thing, I was just plum mad! Mad Mad Mad!!! I tried everything to have joy in my circumstances, but it just wasn't working. I tried praying several times, I tried reading my Bible, no matter what I did nothing seemed to get me out of this fleshly state of irritation with the whole world. In the car on the way home from the tire store I pleaded with God to show me how to have joy when my flesh was refusing to come out of this funk. All the sudden I had the thought to start praising God for anything and everything I could think of. Instead of complaining about my tire, I praised God for a car to drive. I changed my attitude about my overly dramatic and emotional 12 year old into praises that she is a child of God and that He in trusted her to me. Instead of complaining about my 4 year old that calls my name 10,000 times a day and never seems to stop talking, I praised God that he is not autistic and can talk to me all day long. I repented for grumbling this morning about my husband's mess in the kitchen, and thanked God for a husband who loves me and is faithful to me. All the sudden I felt a 1,000 lb weight lifted off of me and I was so filled with joy! Thank you Lord for teaching me today how to receive your joy rather than letting me sit in my pit!