Joy
When your lemons are sour…find JOY!
In my last devotional I left you with “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!” In my case, I often feel like making a lemon drop, which is NOT so biblical, to say the least!
To this day, I have been focused on living day to day and finding joy in each day. “Why?” you might ask. My answer is that WE don’t know what each day will bring for us, what God will bring for us. His plan is not ours! Nevertheless, I still struggle with the WHY. We all continue to be dealt things that we need to put in God’s hands and “let go” out of ours.
Romans 5:1-5
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Having endurance is HARD! It’s hard through all of our sufferings. But, by our faith in the Lord, we can be strong in our endurance. Unlike happiness, Joy is true satisfaction. You are the only one who can choose joy for yourself!
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
The path we choose for ourselves is not the path of the Lord. It is bumpy, windy, dirty, and filled with a lot of potholes! We all want a smooth paved road with no bumps or potholes to hold us from driving “free,” but God’s road often takes us from going the legal speed limit to a halting school limit of 25mph or less which makes our eyes wide open!
Romans 15:13
“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.”
Hope. What does that word mean to each one of us? It all pertains to us differently. For some, it’s living day to day, praying with different desires we have in life. To others, it’s the hope that we will see the next day, to see the next day with no “bumps” in the road, that it can just be a smooth day. Others, just want to have a day full of peace! Live each and every day to your fullest! Find Joy in every minute of your life, through thick and thin!
James 1:2-3
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
Lord, I pray for each and every one of my brothers and sisters, that they can find joy and peace in life no matter what their circumstance. I pray they come to you with all of their troubles and struggles and leave it all to you, knowing that you will guide them and make their paths straight.