The joy of the LORD is your strength!

In January of 2007, I was far, far away from the Lord. Something happened years earlier that turned my world upside down, and I just had a really hard time getting back on track. I was out of church, out of strength, out of hope, out of money, and basically just running on fumes.

In January of 2007, I was sponsored to go on the Walk to Emmaus. I had been attempting to “try things again” with the Lord, but couldn’t quite do it on my own. Some ladies in work saw something in me; don’t ask me what though! Thankfully, they sponsored me to go on this three day spiritual retreat. Praise God some miraculous things happened that weekend in my heart and life.

If you’ve been on an Emmaus walk, you know that each walk has a sort of theme or scripture for the weekend. Our theme was Joy. Our scripture was John 15:11 which says, “These things have I spoken to you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

I had the privilege of attending the walk with many other beautiful women, including a coworker of mine. I came off of the walk on such a spiritual high. I got back in church and slowly began healing and trying to get back on track. After the walk though, my friend and coworker started getting down with health issues and other things.

While on a short weekend trip I found this little purple rock in a store that said “JOY”. I bought it and brought it back for her. It still sits on her desk today. I gave it to her and told her not to ever let the devil steal her joy. I told her to keep that rock with her and if she ever felt like she was losing her joy that she just had to pick that rock up and not let the devil take away her joy; no matter what was going on around her. I can’t help but laugh right now because I picked it up and showed it to her today to remind her of that “JOY”.

I am talking about joy today because last night around 12:30 AM, God put that word on my heart. I was lying there in bed trying to sleep when He began to minister to my heart about His joy. Suddenly I couldn’t go to sleep until I got up and found the scripture from my Emmaus walk. God spoke to my heart and let me see that I have been letting the devil steal my joy lately. Sometimes it’s so easy to recognize things in others that we can’t even see it in ourselves. I’m thankful that He let me see it in me though.

I’ve had a lot going on. I’ve been busy with work and school. I’ve had a lot on my heart and mind. I’ve been praying about a lot of things. I’ve just been trying to wait and be still. Patience is not my strong suit though. Being still has really challenged me. I’ve been experiencing a wide range of emotions. Unfortunately, joy hasn’t constantly been one of them.

So, today if you’re feeling down-trodden, remember that His joy is yours for the taking. It is yours to have and to keep. It is not the hands of the devil. His joy is in your hands. The Bible says that “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The Bible uses the word so many times. He wants us to be full of joy! John 15:11 says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. I dare say that He doesn’t want us to just be full. I believe He wants us overflowing with joy, so we can share that love, light, and joy with others.

I want to close with this. This is what gets me every time. If I have a hang-up in my everyday life, this is it. I admit I’m not a morning person, but once I’ve had my shower, I’m good to go. Give me some good Christian music on the way to work or school and I’m pumped and ready for the day. Unfortunately, I can easily be thrown off track. I can sit next to a person who is negative and have the joy literally sucked right out of me. Or I can have something negative said to me and let it ruin my day.  I shouldn’t be that way though. None of us should be. John 16:22 says, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” What powerful and profound words! Let no man take your joy from you! Wow!

Did you read what I just read? That really does put the responsibility on us. We can’t always choose or control what’s going on around us. Things and people may go awry at work, home, or school any time. Traffic may be crazy. Finances may not be as good as you would like. The preacher may not have preached something you wanted to hear on Sunday. The boss may have offended you. Your friend may have ignored your or said something that hurt your feelings. Whatever it is, it’s okay. I’m not going to say that it doesn’t matter. I know those things matter to each and every one of us. What I’m saying is that we can still choose to smile. We can choose not to be rude or inconsiderate to others even if we’re frustrated or busy. We can all make a better effort to maintain that joy. Believe me; I understand if you don’t always feel like it. Sometimes I don’t either. I see a lot of you struggling with that too. Let’s try to do better for each other though. Better yet, let’s be joyful no matter what comes our way each day because that’s how and who God wants us to be. Amen? Amen.