Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Fruit of the Spirit :: Joy


The Newsboys have a song, "Joy" in which they talk about God providing a joy which is unspeakable, but what is that?? What does that look like? Joy is defined as: 
The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire.
 I don't know about you, but the promises of God and the expectation of good which will come to all believers is great JOY. But what about the times when we are struggling?? What about the times when things just aren't going our way, and we feel the whole world is against us. To me, these are the times that I find the least amount of joy in my heart. The bible tells us in Romans 5:3:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance
It is through the times when we struggle and fall down that we are to cling to the Joy that is Jesus, knowing that God will not give us more than we can handle, but in fact is right there with us, guiding the way.

During times of struggle aren't the only places we are to have joy. Psalms 19:8 says:
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
For me, I find joy in so many day to day experiences:

Seeing my husband after a long day of work
The smell of fresh cut grass
A worship song that I needed to hear at just the right time
Huge orange-yellow harvest moons
Fresh fallen snow
Finally learning from my mistakes
Rain on a tin roof
Little Miss Zoey sleeping
Hearing "I Love You"
The smell of the charcoal grill just fired up
My hope in Jesus and promises from God

What brings you joy? What gives light to your eyes?

Join us next week as we take a look at Peace. We will be posting on Thursday instead of Tuesday. Also, be sure to see what Carrie has to say about the Fruit of the Spirit - Joy.

Until next time...

2 comments:

Carrie said...

It is so hard to find joy when we are struggling or have hard times. That verse is so true!! Thanks for posting it was awesome!!

Sorry I did not tell you about Thursday earlier!!

God, My Savior Forever! said...

This is exactly what I'm experiencing right now..joy through the storm. When the future become a big blur it can be scary BUT the one thing that hold my head up and gives me the strength to keep moving is the JOY that I find in knowing that I am the daughter of a KING and that I am underneath His wing, that He is in control of my future and that He will see me through. One of my friends just found out that she had thyroid cancer, she's only 36 and called me over because she felt so afraid. I told her that she needs torejoice in tribulation because she is in God's hands and God will be glorified through this...we are praying for a miracle! Thanx for sharing!

xoxoxo, Susan