Recently one of my daily devotions was on Joy and it was incredibly well timed (aren’t they always?). In our fast paced, move from one thing to the next lives we can easily forget to focus on the moment and relish in the joy we have right now. We are often too busy looking for the next thing, that we don’t focus on where we currently are or what blessings God has put in front of us for us to enjoy.
I can be incredibly guilty with this. Instead of taking time to enjoy the sunset or taking a walk to breath in the fresh air I can find myself thinking about all I need to do, adding stuff to my to do lists etc. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the daily grind of life that we don’t see the joy. We need to make a conscious effort to choose Joy- it is there but if we are too focused on something else we aren’t going to see it. And that isn’t what God wants for us. Joy comes for the Lord. I know I need to work harder at having a heart full of joy in all I do. I may not want to do something but I am sure I make it worse when my attitude is worse about it.
In the Bible we are told to be joyful always (1 Thessalonians 5:16). That doesn’t mean sometimes. Yes, it is difficult but I think if we as Christians made a continued effort to find the joy in all circumstances our lives would be, not simpler, but more joyful. As we put our trust in Jesus, as we work to surrender to His callings I think joy is an outflow of that trust and transformation. In Galatians 5:22 we are told that Joy is one of the Fruits of the Spirit, it comes from belonging to the Kingdom of God (Romans 14:17- For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit). And then Psalm 30 reminds us that God’s anger is just for a moment but His favor is for a lifetime and joy always comes in the morning. Each day is a new day. No matter what happened yesterday, if it was less than joyful lets say… tomorrow is a new day. And we can choose to begin each day with joy no matter what.
God has taught me a lot about sharing and encouraging on my blog. Sometimes I can get scared to share what I am feeling, afraid that people are going to judge what I say. God tells me to share it anyway. When I write what is on my heart, when I write things that I have been feeling, when I am open and vulnerable on my blog I know that maybe I say something that someone else needs to hear. Or maybe I share a Bible verse that someone else needs to read. I don’t know exactly what is happening with what I share but I know God wants me to do it. He puts the words on my heart and I just type them out and try to format them to look somewhat pretty.