.png)
Often, we think of joy as an emotion, a response to something good that has happened. Because of that we can make the mistake of thinking that we can’t control that feeling.
We can also assume that once we have checked all the boxes and God has answered all our prayers that joy will come automatically. We tend to believe that if we are dealing with touch circumstances, or we are in the waiting for God to meet a need that we can’t be joyful in that season. But that is not the case, and we will talk about that today.
The enemy has convinced us that joy is completely out of our control, and dependent on our circumstances. Joy is not something that we have once everything falls into place. In scripture we can see that God’s interpretation of joy is very different.
In the fruits of the Spirit, we can see that joy is given to us by God.
Galatians 5:22-23 - But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
God has given us these fruits so we can produce and live a life that is full of faith and hope in the Lord.
Joy is good for us. It is something that can be produced in us. Just as fruit can be produced, the Holy Spirit can produce joy in your heart and can nourish your soul.
God, the creator of joy, He did not place joy our of reach for us and it is not dependent on what we do or how we feel, it is a product of our relationship with God. No matter how bad our circumstances are we can still decide to be joyful.
Happy that’s another thing – that is an emotion but to be filled with joy is knowing that God is working, and we have the faith and understanding of that and that no matter what happens God knows the path and what needs to take place.
To have joy in circumstances where there is no joy is very different and can be hard to understand it, but it can happen.
James 1:2-3 - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
The ones who have learned this don’t wait for circumstances to change. They have just learned to cultivate joy in every season. It is a choice that is made.
Joy comes anew every morning…we can choose to lean to having joy over other things. Let not let our emotions dictate how we are going to go about our day to day but lets allow the joy of the Lord to fill us and motivate us to be strong in our faith.