"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”

 –Psalm 94:19 (NIV)

 

No matter where you might find yourself on this week, DON’T YOU DARE LOSE YOUR JOY! On last week, we so cheerfully proclaimed the gift and joy of the resurrection, and we celebrated the festivities surrounding what a sacred day it was. Now here it is, many of us having come into the current week, and at some point, finding ourselves feeling far from cheerful and even further from the joy of our salvation. LIFE IS HARD!

 

It was easy to take that one day and try our best to make it a day of joy and reflection. But once the school and workweek started, and the “HELLOS” of assignments, workload, homework, tests, bills, teachers, students, co-workers, bosses, employers, teammates, family, significant others, friends, and everything else that we wrestle with on a daily basis bombarded us, it was back to that feeling of “when’s the next holiday?”

 

You don’t have to wait until the holidays to be cheerful, and you don’t have to depend on a celebration to bring you joy. GOD IS HERE and HE IS EVER SO WILLING AND ABLE TO LEAD, GUIDE, COMFORT, and CONSOLE YOU, if you let Him in, and if you cast your cares upon Him.

 

It might feel like you’re all alone, but TRUST that HE’S RIGHT THERE WITH YOU! If you heard the thunder “ROAR”, saw the rain fall, witnessed the sun shining, took a deep breath, or can feel your heart beat…”YEP, HE’S THERE"! And HE ALWAYS WILL BE!

 

The thing about YOUR JOY is that "IT’S YOURS". YOUR JOY doesn’t belong to the people you work or live with. Neither does it belong to the problems, people, or places that surround or exist around you, BUT IT’S YOURS and YOURS ALONE!

 

You don’t have to relinquish YOUR JOY to anything or anybody! You can hold on to it AS TIGHT AS YOU WANT TO and YOU DON’T HAVE TO LET GO!

 

You might not have been able to answer that last question on the test before time was up. You might not have been able to make that appointment before the office closed. You might not have been able to purchase that ticket before prices went up. You might not have got that bonus that you were anticipating. You might not have made that winning shot. BUT YOUR JOY IS STILL YOURS regardless of what you missed, didn’t get a chance to do, or didn’t receive the benefit of. NO ONE can deny you YOUR JOY!

 

People and things may come along this week that might try to steal YOUR JOY, trample over it, decrease it, and downright destroy it, but REMEMBER THAT YOUR JOY IS YOUR SHIELD AND YOUR SWORD! It is that WIN WIN in a LOSE LOSE BATTLE! It is that shout of victory when it seems like your enemies are winning. It is that war cry when the battle feels like it’s tearing you apart. It is that thing that will CONFUSE YOUR ENEMIES EVERY TIME! And if we were to be real, it even shocks us too! Especially when we in our minds knew that we DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE!

 

GOD WILL GIVE US JOY! He won’t make us exempt from pain nor trouble, but HE WILL SHIELD AND PROTECT US FROM the pain and trouble that we must endure! HE WILL COMFORT OUR HEARTS! HE WILL GIVE US STRENGTH! And if we will but take a minute to take our eyes off of our “WOES”, our “DISAPPOINTMENTS”, our “SETBACKS”, and our “HEARTACHES”, place them in HIS CAPABLE HANDS, and LOOK TO HIM as we endure, He will make Himself known to us. And if we can but push ourselves to TRUST HIM, HE WON’T JUST FIGHT FOR US…BUT “THE G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)” WILL WIN because, THAT’S WHAT HE DOES!

 

BE JOYFUL…YOU GOT THIS! But most importantly, GOD’S GOT YOU!

Don't Stop CELEBRATING the RESURRECTION!

​                                                  MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH