Finding Joy
Friday,
June 30, 2023
12:25 PM
How do you find joy
in times of trial and frustration?
In
times of sadness and loneliness?
How do
you find the inner strength when every day is such an effort to endure?
Why is the joy of the former days so distant
and seemingly out of reach?
These are the
questions I have been asking myself this week or at least for the past few
days. My mind and my body are not
happy. My heart is sad and my eyes are
on the verge of tears every other hour.
I feel sadness about everything right now and I am not sure of the exact
cause except for the fact my helpmate, my sweetheart, my best friend, my
husband is no longer here on earth to help me find my joy again. He always figured out a way to make me smile
when I was sad. He could say something
that would remind me of all I had to be thankful for. He knew how to bring me back to the joy of
the Lord. I miss him and his
wisdom. I miss his voice in my ear. I miss his arms of love when I needed a
hug. It's lonely without him.
I could go for a
walk on the beach and cry. I could go
for a drive and cry. I could go shopping
for something I do not need and then come home and cry. I could make phone calls to my family or my
friends and cry. But what good would all
of that do besides bring others into my sadness and have them worry about me
and my mental stability. Everyone has
their own troubles. Each one of us has
something that troubles us. Our only
hope is in the Lord.
In John chapter 15
Jesus spoke these words;
“I am the true grapevine, and my
Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce
fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even
more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given
you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit
if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in
me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in
them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who
does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such
branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my
words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!
When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory
to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my
love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my
Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you
these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will
overflow! This is my
commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no
greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends
if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t
confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything
the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go
and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask
for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:1-17
Without Jesus we
have no hope, no joy, no peace, no happiness.
We follow Him and His ways because we want to please Him and be the kind
of person who loves others. Without hope,
joy, peace and happiness we are just like those in the world who are lost
souls. This is how they live life every
day. But read these words again. Jesus
calls us his friend when we are his followers.
He chose us to follow Him and to hear His words of encouragement to not
be like those in the world. He called us
to be different than the hopeless, the joyless, those without peace, those with
no happiness. Wrap your mind around the
words spoken by Jesus over two thousand years ago,
"I chose you. I appointed you
to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you
ask for, using my name."
God the Son, Jesus
Christ, chose you. He chose me to speak
His name and give others a spark of joy, a piece of hope, a word of peace. Maybe not every day but the days when others
around me need to hear these words.
Some days I need to hear these words and no one is here to speak them
into me. But the Holy Spirit is here
with me. He does speak to me. I do hear Him even when I am sinking in tears
of sadness. He does comfort me with
words of love and guidance. With words
of peace and contentment. Without any
condemnation for my feelings, today He encourages me to look forward to
tomorrow.
Proverbs 17:22 (NLT) - A cheerful
heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NLT) - Always
be joyful.
Romans 14:17 (NLT) - For the Kingdom
of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of
goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 55:12 (NLT) - You will live
in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees
of the field will clap their hands!
Psalms 126:5 (NLT) - Those who plant
in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
Psalms 9:2 (NLT) - I will be filled
with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV) - Then he said
to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those
for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
The Holy Spirit
meets with us when we are downcast and sad. He comes along side of us and cries
with us. He knows all too well our
sadness and why. He understands
everything and holds our tears on His shoulder of strength and compassion. He is our Comforter, our Advocate to the
Father to help us see the wonder and beauty of our lives and those who touch
our lives throughout the days and the years.
He leads us out of those valleys of darkness and sadness and puts us
back on the path we have been set on by the Father and the Son. He restores our joy so that we can move
forward to the days ahead when we can stand along side one of our family
members or friends that is having a sad and joyless day.
Acts 13:52 (NKJV) - And the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
When we have times of sadness, which are pruning times, we need to remember we are a branch attached to The Vine. We are chosen by Him to produce fruit and the fruit of the Spirit is;
Galatians 5:22 (NKJV) - But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
He is with us and encouraging us to come back to the joy of our first love, Jesus Christ Son of God, our King and our Savior!