Cultivate Joy

So, I dropped a 5 gallon bottle of water in the faculty breakroom this morning, and it busted and spilled water all over the floor, down my pants, and into my shoes. I spent the next half hour moving furniture, trying not to get electrocuted, and sweeping water into the floor drain. It was very irritating… so let’s talk about JOY. <grin>

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Has your joy ever felt challenged, or have you struggled to even have joy, even though you are a believer in Christ? We can’t just get real and lasting joy. It comes as a result of something. Just like apples grow on healthy, well-watered trees… Joy comes from believing. How are you doing with believing God today?

You may have heard that we need to protect our joy, and that is the truth! This life does everything it can to rob us of Joy, so we need to tend to it, care for it, cultivate it every day. We do this by:

• Creating and maintaining healthy boundaries in every area of life.
• Letting go of things we have no control over and staying in our own lane.
• Being faithful in the “small” things, and living with integrity.
• Abiding in the love of Christ, believing Him at His Word, and living by His Truth.

That seems like a tall order, and it can be, but that’s the Good News of the Gospel… we are not in this alone! More on that later…

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 15:13 ESV

If you’re anything like I used to be, you might be saying, “Oh, I believe God. Of course I do, I’m a Christian.” But many of us who would attest to being followers of Christ are really struggling in the area of having true Joy on the inside… especially this time of year.

Christmas is a sad time for many people, and that is understandable. Loneliness swells, suicide rates climb. Some of us have had great chunks of our hearts and lives torn out with the passing of a loved one this year, and we’re not sure how we will make it through. My prayers go out to all who are hurting in this season. I pray for the Lord to give you His peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I pray for Him to give you His Joy, for the Joy of the Lord is your strength, in Jesus’ name (Nehemiah 8:10).

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

Although devastation can come as a result of our circumstances, Joy does not… though we may wish that it could… no matter how hard we try to make it so.

Even in the midst of that dream vacation we have planned for, saved for, and we can’t believe we are finally taking (!!), we can have sorrow, sadness, and a hope that is waning. In the midst of all that is lofty and grand, both in this world and in heavenly places, the emptiness remains. Why is that?

Let’s look at it through the lens of my own testimony. I was able to attend church every week, read my bible and pray most days, and even consistently serve God both in my church and in the community… and yet still struggled with overwhelming fear, anxiety, panic attacks, and two decades of depression.

I mean, joy comes from believing, right?

It’s not like I didn’t believe. I was doing all the things because I DID believe! So where was my disconnect?

That’s where today’s story comes in. If you’re anything like I was, and you’re struggling in life even though you have been believer for quite some time, what is it that’s missing? Does God just not love us like He loves everyone else? That is a tempting thought… believe me, I know… and although it’s simply not true, it can be a clue that leads us to what we are really dealing with.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16

This life has a way of challenging our security in Christ. Whether it comes from how we were raised, or the things we have experienced, the message of this world is that we are alone. We have to figure things out on our own. We have to hustle so we can make it or break it. We have to follow our to-do list and schedule every minute perfectly, or we will fail at life. We have to thrive, not just survive… even when we feel like surviving is really all we have time for right now.

When we pile on things like abandonment, rejection, grief, and trauma, it’s no wonder we can’t find even ground to stand on. When we have unresolved pain, it will challenge our security in Christ, and we will struggle with our stability.

Dealing with overwhelming fear, anxiety, panic attacks? Having outbursts of anger, jealousy, and competitiveness? Stuck in overwhelming sadness, depression, and feeling hopeless? This was me in my former life, even as a believer, so I know exactly how you feel.

But the thing to know about God, and this is what made all the difference in my life, is that He can be trusted. Oh, I didn’t trust Him at all with my life, even though I believed He was good and that He loved me. My earthly father loved me, too, in his own way, but not enough to really care about me, or to be a part of my life. And that’s where I got messed up with God.

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may exult in You.

Psalm 5:11 ESV

When we get messed up with God, although we may be lifelong believers in Christ, we will struggle to take His Word and apply it to our lives… and that is the true disconnect between the life we have today, and the life Christ died for us to have. That is the true Joy-stealer.

For example, when I lived under a heavy weight of rejection, even though I believed that God was for me and that He loved me, I thought He probably loved me like my earthly father had loved me… which was from a distance. I believed that God loved me less because of my imperfections. I believed He was disappointed in me, angry with me, and would never really stay with me for eternity. I just knew that no matter what, I would fail Him and He would reject me.

• This made it hard to apply His Word when it said things like, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). That challenged my security in Christ.
  
• I had a hard time living like God would accomplish everything that concerns me, like it says in Psalm 138:8. Believing that I had to get it right and be perfect before He would accept me as His own, especially knowing how thoroughly flawed I can be, challenged my security in Christ.
  
• I did not believe that His Grace covered me. I didn’t know what that was even supposed to mean, and I grew up in church! This challenged my security in Christ!

Grace is the main thing. His grace, given freely through Christ, makes it possible to follow Him, makes it possible for Him to love me completely and unconditionally, just the way I am, and for Him to work all things out on my behalf. His grace allows me to trust Him with all the pieces of my life, especially when He is teaching and pruning and cultivating me into the person He created me to be.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

The test of truly believing is in the application. You’ve probably heard it said that “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26). We can also apply that to believing. If I say I believe a certain truth from God’s Word, but I’m not living by that truth, then do I truly believe it?

Some time ago, I was having a conversation with a sweet mama that I know. We were talking about what a certain scripture said in the Bible that applied to her life and was meant to give her hope. Her immediate response, without really thinking about it, was “I really hope that’s true.” We paused a moment, and then I said to her, “You hope that’s true?” She responded with, “Yeah, I really hope that’s true.” Then she realized what she was saying. “Oh, wait a minute!! That’s the Word of God! Of course that’s true.”

It’s these little revelation moments that make all the difference in our lives in Christ. There was a crack in her armor, and it made her believe there was a possibility that God’s Word would fail her, but it never will.

“…not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Joshua 23:14b ESV

If God’s promises are true for ONE of His children, then you can rest assured that they are absolutely true for YOU, as well. He does not love one child more than the other. He does not play favorites. He is a God of perfect character and integrity, which means He is not able to fail you.

If it seems like He has, and I know that’s very possible, then please hear me, dear one… When it seems that God has failed us, we can know and believe that He would never do that to us. This world we live in is a huge mess because of sin, and people do horrible things to each other all the time. That angers and makes Him sad, too. He will not trample on our free will because what is love without free will? But He will SAVE, DELIVER, and SET FREE every person who decides to come to Him, to trust in Him, and to believe His Word (John 3:16-21).

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If we are dealing with the things I mentioned before, there’s something wrong. We all need healing. We all need to allow God to come in and do a work in our hearts, and He is SO ready to do just that… because He loves us very much.

It changed everything when I discovered that God really can be trusted, He will never leave me or forsake me, and all of His promises are true… more true than anything in this world could ever be. He really is a God of miracles, full of love, and abundant in the Joy He gives! He shows compassion to all of His children. He does not play favorites, nor does He give special favors to the rich and famous. He is humble and full of mercy to all who come to Him. He delights to show us mercy.

If we will let Him, God will teach us to get to the end of ourselves, to let go of needing to be in control and let Him take the lead… and the longer we wait to start the process, the harder it will be to get free. It won’t be impossible, mind you, just more difficult. The longer we allow those things to remain stuck, the more stuck WE will become. These are the deep things that lead to unbelief and a hardened heart. They also hurt others, break relationships, and make us miserable in life.

And we don’t want to be miserable anymore… not even for one more day. So what do we do? We cultivate JOY by allowing God to do a work in us.

Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart, And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP