With so much going on in the world today, it can be hard to smile.
Wondering if you’ll be fired tomorrow. Finding out needed medical treatments won’t be covered. Going to the store to buy eggs and seeing they’re $12.99 a carton. Turning on the news and seeing children being abused. Finding out yet one more loved one has passed away.
Yet amid life’s sufferings you have permission for joy.
I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel guilty for smiling when the earth is groaning. I can feel torn for having unshakable faith and deeply rooted joy when I see my sisters in Christ going through tough times.
But make no mistake about it, God INTENDS for us to have joy.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” – Proverbs 17:22
Joy is a fruit of the spirit and a byproduct of abiding in Christ. And not only that, because you are spirit, soul and body, joy affects your whole being. Did you know that laughter and joy can actually improve heart health? Science confirms that joy reduces stress hormones, lowers blood pressure, and increases circulation, which all contribute to a healthier cardiovascular system.
But in the midst of life’s challenges, how do we cultivate true, lasting joy?
We must give ourselves permission for joy and choose joy no matter what we see before us.
Joy is not the absence of struggles but hoping for the best and believing the best because of Christ’s finished work on the Cross. Psalm 16:11 reminds us: You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
When we shift our gaze from our circumstances and lock onto God’s faithfulness, we cultivate RESILIENT JOY, the kind that sustains us even in our darkest hour.
Again, for some of us this doesn’t come as easy. Which is why I’m grateful for my husband and children. My husband brings laughter and levity to our family. Laughter comes easy to him. Just the other night as we were lying in bed he was watching something and broke out into raucous laughter. Secretly in my heart I said to the Lord, “Lord give me the ability for laughter to come easily.”
While my heart is positioned for joy through my abiding, it doesn’t always result in easy smiles and robust laughter. Joy is the STANCE and its effects can be smiles, laughter, peace, contentment and more. It is my prayer for myself and for you that no dam or barrier would stand in the way of our FLOW of joy. May the floodgates of JOY be opened in your life! In case you needed to hear it, this is your permission for joy.
Practical Steps to Boost Joy:
✅ Get around some kids. Sit in their presence. Watch them, listen to them, be fully present in the moment. They will definitely do or say something that will fill your heart.
✅ Surround yourself with uplifting people who make you laugh.
✅ Practice deep gratitude. When you pause and deeply consider how blessed you are, it will fill you with joy.
✅ Manage in consumption of things that bring you down (news, social media, even people)
✅ Listen to uplifting music like this song HERE
May your heart be glad, your soul be light and your joy be FULL! Your heart will thank you for it.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
