When I was a little girl, one of my favorite choruses was “You Can Smile”. I don’t know how many of you have heard the little chorus; and since I can’t sing it to you, for which I know you are thankful, I will share the words.
You can smile,
When you can’t say a word,
You can smile.
When you cannot be heard,
You can smile.
When it’s cloudy or fair,
You can smile anytime, anywhere.
The best part of singing this chorus was when we sang it the second time through. We had to leave out the word smile and do as the song says, smile. We always had the cheesiest grins when we would sing it. All of us would get so tickled. What made it even better was when my dad would sing it with me. He would make the goofiest grin possible. I couldn’t help but laugh.
The song is a cute kid’s song, but it has a lot of truth in it. What is one of the nicest gifts we can give someone? It does not cost us a cent to give a cheerful countenance. Laughter has been proven to be like medicine. When people who are sick watch comedy, they feel better. I don’t know if present-day comedy would work, but the old-fashioned kind really did the trick. Don’t you feel better after being around laughter? What happens when someone starts to laugh? I have caught myself laughing just because someone else is laughing. Laughter is contagious. I know of a few people who always appear to be in good cheer. In fact, if they are not grinning, I grow concerned that something is wrong. I would love to have that kind of testimony.
We might ask ourselves a question. Do we think that since they smile all the time, they never have problems? Not on your life! They just have their problems in perspective. They have looked at the blessings God has given them and realized that their blessings far outweigh their problems. If any of us sat down and took the time to list all of our blessings and our problems, our blessings would far outnumber our problems. Some people in this world have very serious problems. Many of those people still remain cheerful.
A dear friend of mine went to Heaven several years ago. When I was visiting her in the hospital, the nurse came in to refill her morphine. My friend was dying from cancer and was in intense pain, but she met him with great cheer and a smile. She even joked with him and was very pleasant. Wow!
How could she do that? I wonder if the nurse could tell she was a Christian. I am confident that he at least wondered how she could be so pleasant, especially when she had every right to complain. I have been to the hospital with my parents, and the nurses take a lot of abuse. Some of the nurses were near to tears because of the hatefulness of some of their patients. Yet, this woman who was near death and was suffering in tremendous pain had a smile and kind words for this nurse. My friend’s Bible sat on the little table by her bed. We never know what kind of message we will send. I am confident she sent one that our Lord would be proud of. She was a beautiful testimony to this young man of how a Christian should face difficulties. I sat across from this dear friend and marveled at the joyfulness of her spirit. She lit up the room. I came in to cheer her up, but she encouraged me tremendously. Plus, I left that day under deep conviction. My problems seemed awfully small.
Why are we, as Christians, downtrodden and complaining? God has given us so much. A simple smile and a pleasant demeanor is a great gift. Is it too much to ask? People around us have always had problems, but in our current society, the problems are magnified. The least we can do is give them a smile.
Christmas time is here! We should make it our project to spread cheer and give as many smiles as we can. A smile is not any trouble. It doesn’t even have to be wrapped, unless it is in kind words. I want to give everyone a smile for Christmas and all throughout the year. We can give a smile to the clerk at the store who has had a bad day. We don’t have to be a grouch and complain the whole time we are waiting in line. When we are at work and a coworker says something hurtful, we don’t have to snap back or get hot and bothered. Remember who we are in Christ, smile on the inside, and let it flow to the outside.
When problems hit us one right after another, keep in mind that our Lord created the universe and with Him, we can handle it all. Paul reminds us,
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13
Remember that when we feel we have nothing left to give, we can always give a smile.
You can smile. When you can’t say a word, you can smile. When you cannot be heard, you can smile. When it’s cloudy or fair, you can smile anytime, anywhere.
Merry Christmas!
Mrs. Worthington has five children and twelve grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.