Finding Joy Despite Your Circumstances

A thankful heart is a JOYFUL heart.

 
Where does joy come from?   

Does joy come from winning a trip to Hawaii? Or the bliss of holding a newborn baby? Or the calm delight of watching a pink-orange sunset with the one you love?  

Sure. All of those things can bring us joy, but what happens when it rains at the beach or the baby cries, or the one you love no longer want to watch sunsets with you?   

Yeah. Not good.            

Yet despite the frustrations life can bring, true joy is not dependent upon our circumstances. Though life’s joy stealers can be many, we can learn to have more joy in our lives. It starts with asking.  

Ask God for more joy in your life. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 

Here are a few good verses on finding JOY:  

• The joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
• The cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15
• Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Psalm 126:5
• Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:2
• The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3

Finally, a heart full of praise and thankfulness is a glad heart.   

Praising God multiplies our joy and increases our faith. “Praise is the spark plug of faith. Praise gets faith airborne, where it can soar above the gravitational forces of this world’s cares. The secret of faith is continual praise even when your inward parts tremble, lips quiver, and decay enters your bones,” says Kay Arthur in When Bad Things Happen.  

Praising God for who He is and all He has done can start a smile quickly. Thanking Him for the relationships in our lives that bring us connection and cheer buoys our spirits as well.  

A thankful heart is a joyful heart.  

 

(excerpt from Power Prayers forWomen by Jackie M. Johnson)