The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

The joy of the Lord is my strength.  When I think about all of things I have been through in the past year.  All of the heart ache and all of the pain.  I know I am still standing because God’s strength has helped me to endure.  Psalm 30:5 says that “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”  This means that we might have had some trials and tribulations yesterday, but today brings new mercy and grace we have not seen.  We should not waste a day focusing on what happened the day before.  Learn from it and keep moving forward.  If we continually focus on the past, we will miss the promise that each day brings of new discoveries and new experiences.  We have to learn how to tap into the wellspring of strength that comes from God.

We should not let things get us down.  All we have to do is look up into the hills and see our help coming, our help comes from the Lord (Psalm 120:1-2).  We have to know without a shadow of doubt that yes I might have gone thru some turmoil today, but I know that tomorrow is going to be a better day.  We have to have a spirit of expectation.  We have to expect to have a great day.  We have to be determined that we will have joy, despite the circumstances and situations we are dealing with.  We have to praise God in the good times and the bad.  For God I live and for God I die, blessed be the name of the Lord.

What is Joy?  How can we have joy despite of what we see and despite of what we hear?  The Theopedia dictionary defines joy as a state of mind and an orientation of the heart (www.theopedia.com).  Joy is knowing that if God is for us, who can be against us.  Joy is knowing that God loves us and because of his love we can make it.  The joy that God gives helps us turn our frowns into smiles.

But joy is not about feeling good all the time.  Joy is a choice.  We choose to have joy.  We choose to not let our circumstances dictate our outlook on life.  God said in his word, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) He is always by our side.  He will not let any harm come upon us.  We should rejoice that we have a God that will come to our rescue.  Rejoice that we have a God who hearkens to our cries.  Rejoice that he will never leave our side.  Rejoice and bask in the glow of his love.  The joy of the Lord is our strength.

LSW