How did you let the days, weeks, and months go by and all of a sudden you realize that God is not as significant in your life as it once was? You begin each day with a “oh how am I going to get through this day” instead of welcoming in the day with trying to be the presence of God from the get-go.
You rush around through the activities of the day and your daily routines and forget to have any quiet time with God. Then, you realize, sometimes, at the end of your day, that you haven’t prayed to God at all or even thought about walking in any presence with God.
Is your day is filled with doubt, stress, and even motionless routines rather than hope and faith in that God is walking with you and helping you through the daily struggles we face? When good things do happen, you don’t remember to thank God through prayer for being there and seeing you through those challenges.
Do you ever ask yourself where is the joy in my heart that was once there? (Proverbs 4:23). How about the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). How has all of the worry and stress taken over my life? When there is no joy, your strength is weak.
Let’s think about it a little differently. I think we often get it wrong as Christians. Just because we don’t always “feel” joyful doesn’t mean that we can’t be joyful. Is it because joy is ultimately not a feeling? However, some of us tend to live by emotions. It’s a choice, it’s a perspective, and it’s a command in the Bible.
Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This verse doesn’t say “I suggest” or “maybe you should consider it.” It says “be.” Also, the scripture uses “always” and “in all circumstances.” So, we aren’t just happy when things go well. We don’t suddenly stop praising and thanking God because we are having a bad day. Always means always. This is when we have to ask ourselves “What part of ‘be joyful always’ do we not understand?”
You might consider Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Also,Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Colossians 2:6-7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Maybe, the spark to rekindle the fire starts from within with an attitude that I will look for the good things that are happening around me and not focus so much on the negative things. Isn’t there some joy that you can find in your life today?
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