Joy In The Lord  

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22 

We all go through trials in our life where our JOY feels threatened. There is nothing the darkness likes more than to snuff out your light, to have you in despair, to turn away from GOD and, ultimately, abandon your faith.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

James 1:2 

Over and over in the Bible we are called to give praise even when we don’t feel like it. 

We’ve all been there - nursing hurting hearts, trauma inflicted by others, and hard life circumstances that bring you beyond your knees to your face on the mat, seeing one thing after another seemingly not working out, feeling despair, and like there is nothing that is ever going to change about your circumstances.

And yet, God.

As the Proverbs verse says, a crushed spirit dries up the bones. You can feel hollow, empty, dying of thirst, which is why we need to always be reminded that Jesus is our living water. He brings life and washes the wastelands anew cleansing out the dead bones to bring forth new life.

That it is currently Spring feels all the more appropriate.

The darkness and evil of this world wants nothing more than to see you hopeless, broken, and living in fear yet we are also called to not live in fear and to cast those worries on God.

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 

Do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 41:13

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and 

see the punishment of the wicked.

Psalm 91: 5-8

Over and over again we are instructed to not fear, to walk forward in faith, to TRUST the ways God is working our life even though we may be lost in the fog and feel we don’t KNOW or SEE the why, or the when, or even the what.

And yet, God. 

When we feel like we have been drained of our joy, our hope, our resilience, is exactly WHEN we need to dig in, hard.

We need to push through and say, "Thank you Jesus for this time in my life because it leads me back to you for you are my hope, my deliverer, my friend, and for that alone I am joyful."

Finding joy doesn't have to be a big event. Joy can be found in the smallest of things. It can be a soft blanket and a good movie, seeing something beautiful in nature, a song that lifts your Spirits, a book that makes you laugh, a song that makes you dance, or a hug from a loved one, or whatever it is for you.

Sometimes we have to search for joy in the earthly but we have an endless supply of joy in God. Has anyone spent time in prayer at the Holy Throne and not walked away feeling better?

God brings peace even if your world is not reflecting it.

The ultimate peace lives within us and the great JOY it brings God when you come to Him with all of it first. And here's the thing, every time you take those valley periods and lay it at the cross it brings God so much joy, God SEES you.

God sees your heartache.

God sees the betrayals.

God sees the discouragement.

God sees the feelings of hopelessness.

God sees the anger and hurt.

God sees it all.

God loves you so much. God will never leave you nor forsake you and staying firm in your faith, keeping your eyes above and not below ,is how you stand strong with your fist raised: Not today devil! Not today darkness! And not tomorrow either.

This is a song I have played on repeat this last year and there have been days where I felt like I was dragging, fighting discouragement, wondering what's next, and every time I put this song on it raises my spirits and I DANCE and I SING and at the end of it I am LIFTED.

May it do the same for you.