Joy In & Out of Season: Recent Episodes

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In this episode, fall's joy reveals itself in the '&'s' of this life--when transitions are challenging and at times, undesirable. When life as we know it dries up, fall's joy reorients us to the God who sees us, knows us, and loves us beyond our circumstances.

It had been sitting on my bedroom floor for several weeks after a dip in cooler temperatures. The cooler mornings and clearer evening skies had signaled it was time to bring up the big tan box with the brown lid--all the fall and winter clothes I tucked away in springtime.

As is characteristic of fall, the temps were all over the place and my big tan box with the brown lid sat undisturbed except for when I had to vacuum!

“And” is a word we frequently use in the fall.

• hot & cold
• the start of a new season & a longing for the season just finished
• the smell of apples and cinnamon & the reality that the smell leads to a season leads to a season many of us don’t love.

Genesis 16 tells us the story of Hagar, an Egyptian slave girl who was both a servant & the mother of Abram’s first son.

Hagar understood well the blessing & the curse of rising to prominence.

Like the fall leaves, she was adorned with the colors of motherhood, radiant with life as she carried this hoped-for child. But also like the fall lives, Hagar fell, decorated in her pride.

Hagar was living the “&’s” of fall. The initial joy she would have felt at conceiving a child soon gave way to pride, disrespect, abuse, fear, and eventually isolation.

Hagar was alone, sitting beside a spring of water in the wilderness when an angel came and asked a question to which God’s messenger already had the answer.

What do you notice in Genesis 16:7-12?

• Hagar is running away from her problems
• An angel found her
• The angel did most of the speaking
• God sent an angel to Hagar while she was pregnant
• God had given the angel authority to speak a blessing and future over Hagar’s son

Here’s what’s especially noteworthy: the angel knew all about Hagar and yet asked where she’d come from and where she was going.

This is a critical question God asks us when it comes to His joy in our lives.

Stated a slightly different way, God’s messenger asks: what’s going on in your life and what do you intend for your life to look like?

Steps to claiming fall's joy in our lives.

1. Name the reason for joy’s absence in our lives.
2. Acknowledge God’s Presence.
3. Make room for God’s Presence by drawing near.

God had His eyes on Hagar. God understood her and welcomed her despite other people’s rejection and mistreatment. God saw her.

And Hagar knew it.

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who truly sees me.’ She also said, ‘Have I truly seen the one who sees me?’ Genesis 16:13, NLT

Hagar upholds the God who welcomes in. The God who cradles in compassion. The God who sees the unseen and gives voice to the unheard.

El Roi—the God who sees me.

Joy grows in us as we choose to walk in step with God--even when the way ahead will be difficult and painful.

Notice in 16:11-12, the angel’s promise to Hagar isn’t that her son will be well-liked, president of his class, or valedictorian.

And yet, her son’s future performance and resume aren’t where Hagar’s heart resonates.

Hagar's joy erupts from someplace else.

God saw her--acknowledged her pain and isolation. He sent an angel, twice, to speak words of hope and promise over her future and her son’s. Despite the glim future, the angel described for her son, she was beautifully undone by the God in whose image she was created.

Fall joy's invitation: Will you be seen by God in the '&'s' of your life?

Questions to consider as you live into fall's joy:

1. What do you welcome and appreciate about the God who sees you?
2. What name would you give God? Why?

Joy grows when we put ourselves in God’s proximity. When we choose to be seen by God. When we allow God to refine and redefine who we are and Whose we are.

Complete show notes coming soon on my blog!

Connect with Jennifer here:

• Website - JenniferSakata.com
• FB - https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSakata.Author
• IG - @jennifersakata
• FREE! - 10 Pivots to a More Grace-Filled You

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In this episode, we splash around in summer's ever-expanding joy through Paul's most familiar prison letter--Philippians. Chapter 4 leads us in choosing joy through a change of mindset, priority, and practice. Welcome to summer joy - it's contagious!

Ahhh…we’ve finally landed in Summer’s Joy! Summer’s joy needs little explanation; it’s the exuberance of gladness that wells up unprompted—when the sun shines and all is as we think it should be. Unless of course, you’re not a big fan of summer.

For some of us, summer is the season all others lead up to! It’s lighter and less chaotic—unless your kids play baseball or other summer sports. Nonetheless, summer is casual and easygoing—not as easily encumbered by deadlines and have-to’s.

It’s in this context we come to Philippians Chapter 4.

Perhaps the most famous of his letters, Paul’s letter to the Philippians is just that; it’s a letter.

In his so-named “Joy Letter,” Paul writes Philippians to encourage, instruct, acknowledge, and update Christians in Corinth about what real joy looks like in the Christian life.

The word ‘joy’ or ‘rejoicing’ appears 16 times in just 4 chapters--especially significant since Paul wrote his letter from prison.

Chapter 4 reminds us that joy is about forward movement.

Joy is contagious--meant to spread like the ripples of a stone that’s been skipped into a summer lake.

Before joy is released to do its outreaching work, it must first land in our lives.

Romans 5, Paul describes joy as the result of being made right by God when we place our faith in Jesus as Lord.

Everything about us is made right.

This, according to Paul, is the source and substance of our joy.

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of underserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Rom. 5:2

Three movements of summer’s joy in Philippians 4:

1. Change of Mindset (changing what we think about)
2. Change of Priority (changing what we will or want)
3. Change of Practice (changing what we do with our body)We orient our thoughts differently so that we can live differently.

Our lives lead where our minds marinate. When we orient our thoughts differently, our priorities follow and we live differently.

What we do is not nearly as important as how we do it. And how we do it is a direct reflection of why we’re doing it.

The Shema (Jewish Prayer) is a model for movement into summer's joy.

We love God with our whole selves.

Joy results from practiced choices; it’s a full-bodied commitment with our mind, our will, and our body.

Summer joy’s invitation: Will you change your mindset and your priority for a change of practice?

Questions for you to consider in releasing summer's joy:

1. What has God been up to in your own life?
2. Where have you seen God at work in someone else’s life?
3. List 10 thoughts/reflections that fall into Paul's Philippians 4:8 description.

Joy is contagious--meant to spread like the ripples of a stone that’s been skipped into a summer lake.

Complete show notes coming soon on my blog!

Connect with Jennifer here:

• Website - JenniferSakata.com
• FB - https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSakata.Author
• IG - @jennifersakata
• FREE! - 10 Pivots to a More Grace-Filled You

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In this episode, lean into spring's joy as we remember that God's promises always accompany God's redirection. Listen in to the voice of Jeremiah calling us to a new beginning with God at the center. As we choose to 'unpack our bags,' spring's joy reaches forward to God's promises and hopes which are good and not for harm.

Have you ever noticed how 50 degrees in the spring feels different than 50 degrees in the fall?

Fall 50 feels chilly. It prompts us to put on a sweater or take a jacket. It signals colder days and nights to come. But spring 50 is a welcome invitation for short-sleeved shirts and colorful prints.

Spring is the season of potential. But for the bulbs and for us, spring comes only after winter has finished its work.

Jeremiah 29 lands us in this soon-to-be-spring-but-not-quite-yet season of life.

'For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29:11

As inspiring and spring-oriented as these words are, they were spoken during a time of tremendous pain and difficulty. Winter’s edges were hanging tight. The warnings and pleas from Jeremiah and other prophets fell on deaf ears.

The consequence for God’s People: exile and captivity.

But because God is graciously kind, His promise accompanies the consequence.

This is what the LORD says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.” Jeremiah 29:10, NLT

What does God instruct His people to do? How does joy find expression during Israel's captivity?

• Bloom where you’re planted (verses 5-6).
• Work for peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile (verse 7).
• Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare (verse 7).

In other words, unpack your bags and stay awhile.

Before any of us is able to follow God’s instructions, we must unpack our bags. In doing so, we unpack spring's joy.

Some stumbling blocks to ‘unpacking’ our bags:

• Having a temporary mindset
• Things aren’t like they used to be
• I don’t like change and having to adjust
• 'Cleaned-up' memories make our hearts ache for the ways things were before
• Fear of the unknown
• Despair/shame/guilt for being in this situation at all—I made my bed and now I’m stuck in it. No unpacking for me.

At some point, we must put aside the stumbling blocks and unpack our bags in order to choose spring's joy.

God’s promise when we choose to unpack our bags: But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. Jeremiah 29:10, NLT

Joy grows in us when we take God at His Word.

Like spring bulbs that must push through the darker edges of winter, we choose joy when we allow God’s mercy and kindness to lift us out.

Spring joy's invitation: Will you be brought back home again--to a new beginning with God at the center?

Questions to consider as you choose joy around winter’s edges into spring:

1. Where do you think God wants to take you?
2. What might you need to leave behind?
3. Friends, let’s identify what’s challenging to genuinely unpack and stay awhile.
4. Consider this week how you might serve your community. What will you do and how will you do it?
5. Write a brief prayer for your neighborhood or community. And then pray it--3 times this week.

Joy results in forwarding movement. Toward God and toward others.

Complete show notes coming soon on my blog!

Connect with Jennifer here:

• Website - JenniferSakata.com
• FB - https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSakata.Author
• IG - @jennifersakata
• FREE! - 10 Pivots to a More Grace-Filled You

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In this episode, learn how joy in the dead of winter is God's design for our lives! God prescribed the Jubilee Year while the Israelites were living in captivity--inviting us to choose joy when our circumstances are anything but joyful.

Does joy come easily? Or do you find joy just beyond your reach—something experienced by the privileged few?

Joy is a long-haul fruit of God’s Holy Spirit that has nothing to do with circumstance, life experience, or even, personality. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 5 that joy is the result of being made right by God when we place our faith in Jesus as Lord.

Sounds simple, right? Give life to Jesus and all is well.

Not so much.

Like all the fruits of God’s Spirit, there are seasons in which joy grows differently and at different paces.

Leviticus 25 offers us a secret to choosing joy in the dead of winter.

Leviticus 25 unveils the Jubilee Year and it describes how God’s people are instructed to live holy lives through the joy of celebration.

Life with God moves us toward joy. God is holy, yes. But his holiness always leads to worship and celebration.

The Jubilee Year teaches us how to choose joy in celebrating God, worshipping God, and drawing near to God—even while the winds of winter (Israel's captivity) blow around us.

Four ways we live into winter's joy:

1. Recognize when we're not there.
2. Acknowledge God's interventions in our lives.
3. Be intentional in nurturing joy.
4. Allow joy to expand God's reach through us.

Winter joy's invitation: Will you move toward holiness and celebration through joy?

Questions to consider in choosing winter's joy:

1. Where is God inviting you to make room for joy this season?
2. Where has God freed you to experience His joy?
3. If this were your Jubilee Year, what would you celebrate? What would you want to celebrate?

Joy isn’t for the privileged few. It’s the result of practiced choices no matter how hard the winds of winter blow.

Complete show notes coming soon on my blog!

Connect with Jennifer here:

• Website - JenniferSakata.com
• FB - https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSakata.Author
• IG - @jennifersakata
• FREE! - 10 Pivots to a More Grace-Filled You

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In "Joy: In & Out of Season", host Jennifer Sakata reminds us that joy is not for the privileged few. As we follow four joy-fueled friends of the Bible, we discover that joy is the result of practiced choices--regardless of circumstance or season.

Like all the fruits of God’s Spirit, joy grows in us as we draw near to God—especially in the mix of life's ‘hard.'

Listen in and begin living a kinder, gentler, more grace-filled life by choosing joy today!

Connect with Jennifer here:

• Website - JenniferSakata.com
• FB - https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSakata.Author
• IG - @jennifersakata
• FREE! - 10 Pivots to a More Grace-Filled You