Showing teeth or Frowning?

We reflect what we feel. Many times, we have to make an effort to show what we do not feel, because it might have a permanent effect which may affect us negatively afterwards, like for instance, when someone takes a picture and we have to smile, even if  we are angry or sad. Sometimes we can not help it and show the real feeling which is what we normally would do, thus making the picture obtain an enduring tag. Some might laugh about it, later on, but the “whatever” feeling that caused the “frown,” or the mean look, could result in something painful through the years, although we may not feel it right away.

Life also makes us frown if things do not go as we plan. It’s happened to me, and many times I walked around in a long face for more than I wished, even though I was always pleading I could smile again. There were many people praying for me and many who loved me were always giving me good advice from the book of wisdom:(the Word of God). Sometimes that was not good at all, because it made me feel ungrateful; like I was not doing what I was supposed to feel good; and I did not know what was so unpleasing to God of what I was doing. I felt horrible about myself and thought He did not like me, which was the reason why I felt so bitter and mad for all "He had let me go through". Why me? I would ask myself. No matter how much I tried to do the things correctly:, be nice to everyone or be proper, the feeling of being a loser in life did not go away and it all started to wound my self esteem Every time someone said «Smile, Jesus Loves you» I felt like "yeah, right, I was going fine and He took it all away. How could you say that’s love?" There was no way anybody could convince me of the opposite.

I had little people who depended on me, though, and I got to thinking I was not setting a very good example if I wanted them not to turn like me in the future, because one thinks that bad things happen when one does not act correctly, but, you know what? I started to read the Scriptures every day and asked God to give me the wisdom He wanted me to have in order to carry on with a nice life. Not only did I learn that God really loved me in spite of my behavior, and if I let Him, He would become my father, my protector, my savior from any grief, for He would be by my side at every moment to cry with me and give me courage to go on till His plan in my life is fulfilled and I graduate with honors.

I am happy for it and I have decided to start the year showing my teeth, smiling for all knowing that:

. . .God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. . . (Romans8.28)

. . .we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh, and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath. . .But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (E[hesians 2.3-7)