Everyday Joy

Have you ever rolled out of bed with kids yelling, hubby grumpy and you only had about 4 hours of sleep?  Well, I have and my first thought was NOT about how much JOY I felt in my heart!!  hahaha  It is easy on the days when you wake from a good, full nights sleep, obedient children and a pleasant hubby......sorry, I just went into a daydream!  My point is that we usually base joy on how we feel.  We base our joy on our circumstances!  Oh the lessons I have learned (and am still learning) from Paul!  Paul wrote about JOY from PRISON!!!   He knew where the source of his joy came from.  In his letters he made it very clear that his joy, strength, hope and peace came from the Lord!  Phil. 4:13  I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength!


When my Papaw died (15 years ago), I thought my world as I knew it was over.  It hit me so hard.  It was like one minute he was here and then he was just gone!  I could hardly wrap my head around it.  Even though it has been 15 years, I still think about him all the time.  I have wonderful memories that I can play over in my mind and I can tell stories to my son about how amazing this man was to me.  I am sad because I miss him, but my heart cannot hold all the JOY I am flooded with when I picture him walking and hanging out with Jesus!!!  I can see his face light up as he looks at his Heavenly Father face to face!  My eyes are as full of tears as my heart full of JOY!   See my circumstance, living without my Papaw does not over-ride my ability to contain joy.  I choose to have EVERYDAY JOY!   I hope you are encouraged today to not allow your present circumstance to steal your joy.  No matter what the enemy throws at you, put on JOY and deny him the opportunity to knock you down!!!  Stand STRONG in the source of all JOY, PEACE, HOPE and LOVE!!! 



 No matter what our misfortune or difficulty, God reigns supreme and sovereign. He can — and will — see us through anything the enemy throws at us!