Hebrew month of Shevat (JOY)

We are now in the Hebrew month of Shevat. Each month is associated with one of the tribes of Israel. This month it’s the tribe of Asher; a name that means “happy.”

It is really hard to move ahead without joy and happiness. When we move out of joy we usually begin to lock down emotionally and creatively. We can all be tempted to return to mindsets that are really unproductive for us. Thoughts forged in a season of trauma, as a means of survival, can quickly become a liability.

Henry Ford had business failures that left him broke five times. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor and told “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Tom Landry led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins and five NFC championships. In his first season they won no games and only won five or fewer games over the next four seasons. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, missed 9000 shots in his career, lost almost 300 games, and on 26 occasions he was entrusted with the game winning shot and missed. Churchhill struggled in school, failed the 6th grade, and was defeated in every election until he finally became Prime Minister at 62 yrs old. Sidney Poitier was told by a casting director, “Why don’t you stop wasting people’s time.”

Joy is strength! There really is a war over our mind that wants to create a failure mentality on our path. This month keep stepping past it all with the weapon of JOY because He chose you!