Where Is Your Joy?

"The joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength...". Do you remember learning these lyrics as a kid? I certainly do. It was like a repeat button. The same sentence over and over. Back then it seemed slightly too repetitive, but the more I think about it the more I realize it's just a constant praise to the Lord.

We praise Him because through His joy that is given, we are given strength.

Joy = strength. Doesn't make any sense you say? Well, think of it like this.

When things aren't going too well or you're going through a rough patch in life, you are pretty down, right? All things seem too confusing and hard to deal with, you're saddened by the state of your life and just sit in despair; you feel weak and helpless. On the other hand, when you're joyful, truly happy, you feel like you could conquer the world! You feel strong, stable, immovable...like a rock that can stand the test of time.

This is how it is with Christ. Even though things don't always go smoothly, we can have joy in our Savior because He gives us the strength needed to deal with life.

There will be times of sadness, don't get me wrong. There will be hard times, financial, spiritual...relationships may fall apart, friends may drift away...but God gives grace enough to get through.

The funny (but sad) thing is, as I hear some Christians telling other people about the Lord, they add in "It's just amazing...things are so great! All of your problems will disappear if you only do ____ and _____ and ______, then accept Jesus into your heart. He will take away all your problems and all your left with is a wonderful plan for your life." First of all, problems don't disappear when you make that step of faith. Sorry, but it's true. God even tells us that we won't have it easy!

“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." -Matthew 5:11

Whoa. That was NOT in the contract. People will say evil things against me, because I made a positive decision? Seems kind of harsh.

There's a quote that I love that says "People are mad at you? Good. That means you're doing something right." It's sad...but true. The minute you make God a permanent part of your life, things won't get "easier" per se, but more for the fact that once you have that drive from the Holy Spirit, you will have a purpose in your life. A purpose that goes against the flow of most people in the world. They see good and Satan uses all he can to smash it to pieces.
-Moving on- Secondly, being persecuted isn't always a bad thing. Now before you call me crazy, hear me out. The rest of that verse from Matthew says,

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

We take on the name of Jesus, we need to be prepared to have people go against us. Possibly even harm us. But, those who are persecuted for Christ' name are called "blessed"; we are to be glad and rejoice, because for taking that name and suffering that comes with it, we will be rewarded!

Sometimes I think I'm all alone when it comes to dealing with temptations and pain. Not from the people around me, but from God. I tell myself "Well, He's God! He's perfect; He lived a perfect life and is all-powerful. He doesn't know what I'm going through physically and mentally." He reminds me "Oh yes, dear child, I know. For you see, I was persecuted. I was beaten, spat upon, called a liar, an outlaw; I was tempted by the devil himself. I had pain, I bled. But, it was all for you. I died, I did it all so you wouldn't have to take on that painful death."

"But when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent him to die-I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, our burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away our sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior God; to thee. How great thou art, how great thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God; to thee. How great thou art, how great thou art!"

He knows. Plain and simple. But here's the great part! We don't have to go through life alone. God had to die being almost abandoned. Yet, when we "die to ourselves" we are automatically given a line straight to God. He has time for everything we need to talk to Him about, He has more strength than we could ever need and His wisdom is overflowing from His word and everywhere we look.

He is there for us. Because of that, we can be joyful. We can be glad and rejoice because our Savior lives, He loves us and will never leave us. He will give us joy in the morning, He will give us strength when we need it and take over anything we wish to give to Him; anything we choose to relinquish from our grasp into His hands.

Be joyful because you are alive and loved! That should be a good enough reason. :)