JOY – (part one)
JOY – Jesus | Others | You
“In your presence there is fullness of joy” – Psalm 16:11.
Recently, I have been reading the book of Philippians and the Lord has been revealing to me what it looks like to be joyful. With the help from my little sister, and the VBS she attended last week, I learned a simple acronym for JOY; Jesus, Others, You.
It is human nature for me to easily confuse joy with the emotion of happiness, but more often than not, joy is different than just feeling “happy.” Instead, I’m learning that joy is found in the expectation of something wonderful to come.
As this verse in Psalm 16 says, choosing to be in God’s presence is the first step in choosing joy. It is easy to be joyful when things in life seem to be going well. When I’m at the top of a mountain and can see everything clearly for miles and miles, I find it easier to thank God for His blessings and provision in my life. But if I’m honest, most of my life has not been spent on the top of a mountain, and that is okay! This isn’t a bad thing, it just means that I have spent most of my life walking through the journey of life. If I have learned anything, it is that God has encouraged me to find just as much joy on the journey as I do on the mountain top. The journey is where I have learned some of the most amazing things about not only God’s incredible character, but also who God says I am. It is where I have had to rely on Him as my guide around the tight corners, twists, and turns of life.
I have a choice to make. I could wander hopelessly through life wondering when I will ever reach the top of the mountain, or I can choose to trust in God, knowing that with Him I will find joy and that He will lead me on to so many more wonderful things in life. When life isn’t going the way you had pictured it, trust God in the process and know that he will always finish the work He started in you, even when you may not feel His presence. That being said, it is your job to abide in Him and let God fill you with His amazing peace and joy.
So I challenge you, before looking to the world to tell you who you are or questioning the path that you are currently on, look to the One who created you to be uniquely you and set the perfect path before you. It is when you choose God first that He will fill your life with all of the joy and hope for the things to come.
