Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God—soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God. [Psalm 42:5 (MSG)]
Good news! There’s something more satisfying than a Snickers or Dove Bar and it’s non-fat, sugar-free, and zero calorie! Apparently, smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanism far better than chocolate! I’m sure this is good news for all those who made (and didn’t keep) New Year’s resolutions about health and wellness. According to “healthy aging expert” Mark Stibich, smiling boosts the immune system and lowers blood pressure. It reduces stress, elevates our mood, helps us have a positive outlook, and feel good. If that’s not enough to convince us to smile, he adds that a smile makes us look more attractive, appear younger, and seem more successful. Smiling certainly takes less effort than dieting or going to the gym and has much the same effect.
When in Florida and I walk through the park taking photos for the church website, I see how easily a smile can change someone’s looks. Since taking pictures of the congregation, my entire concept of beauty has changed—there is nothing more beautiful than a smiling face. No matter what the person’s age, no amount of plastic surgery can equal the beauty of a smile! Beauty has nothing to do with youth, a flawless complexion, perfectly coifed hair, wrinkle-free skin, fashionable attire or a model’s figure. Beauty truly does come from within and shines out through a smile. Physical beauty is only skin deep but someone’s inner beauty radiates out from the heart through his or her smile.
Now that I’m in northwest Colorado and attending our mountain church, I continue to notice smiles and must agree with Dr. Stibich’s final claim that smiles are contagious. At both our Florida and Colorado churches, we always pause to greet one another early in the service—and that greeting isn’t just a little courtesy nod to one’s neighbors. People walk from row to row, chatting, shaking hands or hugging one another. Sometimes, we’re slow returning to our seats but not because we’re uninterested in the day’s music and message. It’s the smiles! Along with the handshakes and greetings, there are smiles galore and those smiles are infectious. Once we receive a smile, we have a smile and simply have to pass it along to someone else, and so it goes. No matter how serious the sermon, no matter what is happening in my life or the world around me, I have never left either church without joy in my heart and a smile on my face.
What do smiles have to do with God? It’s certainly not necessary to believe in God to wear a smile and lots of non-believers smile quite nicely, at least when life is going well for them. A believer, however, fixes his eyes on the Lord and can wear a smile even when life has dumped a big load of bad. Having a relationship with God—resting in His peace, experiencing His joy, having a grateful heart, being confident of salvation and knowing we’re safe in His hands—that just can’t help but bring a smile to anyone’s face.
If you haven’t done a good job of keeping those New Year’s resolutions about health and fitness, don’t give up—keep trying. In the meantime, do yourself (and the people around you) a big favor by smiling. God is love and sharing a smile is just about the easiest way possible to share His love with the world—and get some valuable side benefits, as well.
Smile at each other. smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other—it doesn’t matter who it is—and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other. [Mother Teresa]
O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing! He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence. [Psalm 103:1-5 (MSG)]
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. Proverbs 15:13 (MSG)
As I picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the water, I thought of Loren Eiseley’s essay about saving starfish and making a difference in people’s lives, one life at a time. Remembering Eiseley’s essay got me thinking about an announcement made last week at Bible study. While a local family was driving home from church last Easter, a driver sped through a red light, t-boned their car, and changed their lives forever. Their two small children were seriously injured and one, a three-year old girl, was airlifted to another town. On life support for about a month, her injuries left her a quadriplegic. Now four, this sweet little girl has more surgeries and months (if not years), of medical, physical and occupational therapies ahead of her. Meanwhile, her family struggles with mounting medical expenses. Although the family does not attend our church, their need came to the attention of our pastor. Being restricted to a wheelchair has kept this little girl and her family from their favorite Florida activity—going to the beach. Since the wheels of a normal wheelchair would sink in the sand, family beach time has been just a memory until now. Yesterday, along with a sizeable check to help with their expenses, our church presented them with a sturdy all-terrain beach wheelchair. This vehicle enables her not just to go to the beach but also to go into the ocean and play in the water once again.
With their huge medical bills and needs, the $2,200 spent on a wheelchair may seem a little frivolous—but not to a four-year-old girl who had given up all hope of ever going to the beach or feeling the waves again! There are some people who will analyze how many mission trips, meals, blankets, immunizations, medicines, bricks, or Bibles could have been purchased with that same amount of money. They may disagree with how the church spent our tithes and offerings. Without a doubt, there is a tremendous need in our world for just the bare necessities of clean water, food, shelter, and health care. Sometimes, however, a need is right in front of us—a need to make life a little easier for a neighbor, a need to bring some joy back to a family or to put a smile back on a child’s face. Sometimes what seems extravagant to someone is a necessity to another—a great wig or a day at the spa for a woman with breast cancer, a davit that allows a paraplegic man to get into his boat again, skiing on a sit-ski for a wounded warrior who’s lost his legs, a week of summer camp for a teen with diabetes, a weekend at Disney for a child with leukemia, a trip to the Super Bowl for a boy with cystic fibrosis, or even a teddy bear for a tot recovering from heart surgery.
Devotions of the Heart 