Joy

How many of us have heard, or read the Scripture, “The Joy of the Lord is my strength” I have heard it, read it, and said it all my life. However, I didn’t understand what it meant until I was an adult. I guess we sometimes don’t understand things until we go through some things. I always wondered why we were supposed to be joyful while going through the fire. Who wants to be joyful while in the fire, nobody. The fire is often a painful place a place we usually can’t wait to get out of, we want whatever lesson that needs to be learned to be taught quickly unfortunately that is usually not the case. Actually the lesson might be shown to us fairly quick however, what determines how soon we escape the fire is determined by how quickly we learn the lesson.

We will all go through the fire at one time or another, none of us are immune to learning lessons. Learning lessons are a part of growth.  Our relationship with God is constantly changing because, we go from glory to glory and, in order to do that, growth and change has to take place. There is an experience that happens at each step that brings us closer to God which is what God ultimately wants from us all, to become totally dependent on him, for us to talk and commune with him everyday so we will know the thoughts and feelings of his heart.  The thing we have to remember when we are being challenged is what God has done for us in the past. Each time we remember the things God has done before its easier to trust that God will bring us through the next time.

The Joy of the Lord is my strength means, we are able to have strength and confidence while going through the storm.  We remember, that God is able to get us through any situation, because he is bigger than any problem or situation we are facing. However, in order to truly be confident in this we have to be in relationship with God. As in any relationship, it has to be nurtured, if we think about it like a friendship, before it became a close relationship where we felt comfortable, we had to spend time with that person getting to know their personality and their heart. Once that was established we began to trust that person, it’s the same with God. Joy is knowing that no weapon formed against us will prosper, joy is remembering that time when there was not enough food to last through the week and you had no money and payday wasn’t till next week, God provided. If he did it once he will do it again.

Allow me to break it down further. Joy is what happens when you trust God when things are not going your way, It’s when you trust God when it don’t feel good, knowing that God is working things out for your good and his glory. Joy is when you trust in God by resting in him and in his word, delight in him and, trusting the process. Finally joy is knowing against all odds and no matter how it looks, you have the victory.

Be Encouraged!