“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” -Psalm 118:24
Everyday our Joy comes from the Lord, so why are we so quick to let someone or something ruin it? Are you letting someone’s attitude, actions, mood, or words ruin your day and change your mood? For most of us this happens on a daily basis, we wake up hoping to have a good day only to start the day and let what someone else did or say ruin the whole day (like the car you said some words to this morning because they pulled out in front of you) haha Guilty?
As followers of Christ it is important to know that our joy doesn’t come from worldly things, it doesn’t come from the people around us, it comes from Christ himself! “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) I’ve noticed in the world today, a lot of people say “I’ll be joyful when…” but the thing is you can be joyful now without having what you think you need in order to experience joy!
You see God loves us so much that He has already filled us with his Holy Spirit, he’s already filled us with His joy, His peace, His strength, etc. But so many people think they need all these things just to simply feel joy. The Key is you have to tap in to the joy that is already inside of you. For example instead of letting one car pulling out in-front of you ruin your good mood how about you just say a prayer for them hoping they get to where they are going safely.
Or lets say you woke up and it wasn’t the greatest environment in your household, instead of carrying around the negative energy with you, take it to God so he can handle it while you are at work so that you can come back home to peace! When you choose to let one thing or one person ruin your mood or your whole day you tend to carry that energy around with you and eventually you either one, rub it off on the people around you causing them to have a bad day or two, you lash out at someone else not even realizing you are doing to them what was done to you and in turn you have now ruined their day too.
Before you let someone else steal your joy remember that each day is a day that the Lord has made, He woke you up this morning because He is not done with you yet! He has already filled you with the joy and strength you need to get through each day. Instead of saying you’ll be joyful when you have this, this and this, tap in to what is already inside of you knowing that God has already filled you with everything you need! If this is something you really struggle with I encourage you to ask the Lord to change your heart, change the way you look at situations, change what your joy depends on, and help you to depend on Him more.
Strive to be more like Jesus each day, spread His joy. Take every battle that you face to Him in prayer, leave it with Him instead of taking matters into your own hands, Pray for the people who are having bad days instead of letting them ruin yours! Prayer is the most powerful weapon against anything. “I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers.” (Ephesians 1:18)
Challenge:
As you go through this week, I challenge you to not let anyone or anything steal the Joy God has given you, I challenge you to pray for the ones who try to steal it instead of letting them and pray over any situation that tries to steal it! Stand firm knowing that God is always in it with you, and fighting for you!
Songs to help:
God is Not Against Me By: Elevation Worship
I Surrender By: Hillsong Worship