Joy

 “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” – Psalms 30:5(b)

 
Have you equated happiness with joy? Happiness, like morning dew, can be fleeting. However, joy comes from the Lord. While happiness depends on good things in your environment, joy continues in troubled times.

Whenever you acquire a toy, a new car or a new boat, you are happy for a time. However, once the newness wears off, or you see a neighbor with a better toy, your happiness can wane.

However, God fills you with great joy through your knowledge of His love and devotion to you. When you learn that God plays on your team, you know true joy. With God on your side, you are never lost!

Joy is knowing that when your physical life ends, your spiritual eyes see the Lord. Paul writes, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Joy can exist even in the unhappiest moments. Joy is a product of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). You can be extremely unhappy, but be filled with the joy of the Lord. It is His joy that gives you strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Isaiah says, too, that the redeemed of the Lord will come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy will be on them (35:10). Whenever unhappiness grabs you, praise the Lord for the joy He brings. Know that, even in your time of sadness, the Lord loves you as much as it is possible for him to love you!

Blessings and peace because of His great joy!
 

B. Howard Coffey
Cadiz UMC
Pennyrile District