We all have moments when life doesn't go according to plan. A phone call brings unexpected news. A relationship becomes strained. A financial concern appears. A door we hoped would open suddenly closes. In those moments, our hearts tend to turn somewhere. For some of us, the heart turns toward worry. For others, it turns toward anger, disappointment, fear or discouragement. Sometimes we replay the situation over and over, allowing the problem to occupy more and more space in our minds. We may not be able to control what happens around us, but we can learn to choose where our hearts turn when it happens.

David gives us a remarkable picture of this choice in Psalm 16:8: “I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” Notice David's words: “I have set.” That is intentional language. David is describing a decision about where he will direct his attention. He doesn't say that he has set his circumstances before him. He doesn't say that he has set his problems before him. He says, “I have set the LORD.” David has learned that what we continually place before our hearts eventually shapes our hearts.

That doesn't mean David ignored his problems. The Psalms make it clear that he knew fear, disappointment, opposition and uncertainty. But he refused to allow those things to become the ultimate focus of his life. Instead, he deliberately turned his attention toward God. That is an important lesson for us because we live in a world that constantly competes for our attention. News alerts, social media, family challenges and personal disappointments can easily become the things we think about most. And what occupies our thoughts eventually begins to influence our emotions.

If I continually rehearse what has gone wrong, discouragement grows. If I continually replay an offense, resentment grows. If I continually imagine everything that might go wrong, anxiety grows. David gives us another choice: He invites us to redirect our focus, to remember who God is and how He has revealed Himself to us. He is faithful when circumstances are uncertain. He is good when life is difficult. He is present when we feel alone. He is sovereign when events seem out of control.

David continues, “Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” The source of David's stability isn't that life is predictable. It is that God is present. Christian joy doesn't mean that we never experience sadness, disappointment or difficulty. It means those things don't have to determine the ultimate direction of our hearts. We can acknowledge that something hurts and still trust God. We can admit that we are afraid and still turn toward Him. We can say, “I don't understand,” while also saying, “I know God is faithful.”

This is where joy becomes more than a passing emotion. Joy becomes a direction of the heart. The next time something happens that threatens your peace, pause before allowing your heart to follow its natural reaction. Ask yourself a simple question: Where is my heart turning? Then deliberately turn it toward God. You may not be able to change the circumstance. You may not be able to control another person's actions. You may not know what tomorrow will bring. But you can choose where you look.

David reminds us where we will find the strength to stand: “I have set the LORD always before me.” This is where choosing joy begins — not with changing our circumstances, but with changing the direction of our hearts. We may not be able to choose what happens to us, but we can learn to choose where our hearts turn when it happens.

Dr. Tony Banning is a longtime Southern Baptist minister who serves as pastor of Whitehouse Fork Baptist Church in Baldwin County and as an adjunct professor at Coastal Alabama Community College. He is the author of “Come Aside: An Invitation to Experience the Presence of God,” forthcoming this winter.