I typically don’t like to talk about myself or things going on in my life, but recently I’ve had this overwhelming feeling of joy. Not happiness, but joy. It’s a feeling I haven’t felt and something I didn’t think I would experience until later in life. My first semester of college was challenging for me and it was hard balancing a life that was so much different than what I was use to. Above everything else, I tried to put God and time spent with God first, but as humans do, I failed more times than one. I let the devil control my feelings and I let my controlling nature make situations much more complicated then they should have been. I learned very early one that trying to take control leads to a dead end.
James 1:2-3 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. I like to think of joy as an extended warranty on happiness. It is simply happiness that doesn’t cease. To me, joy was impossible to obtain and I often times allowed myself to let this thought control my day to day actions and thoughts. I let the devil lead me to believe I couldn’t reach a point of joyfulness, something in each day had to go “wrong”. He lead me to believe I needed to be in control over my life and each situation I encountered. When we take the control out of the Lords hands we get nowhere, I like to think of it as trying to drive a car that’s in park. We think we have the power to control where we go and how fast we get there, but without putting that trust in Jesus our tires will just keep on spinning. You can’t experience joy if you try and control a situation. The outcome will never be what you want it to be. John 16:22 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. Trying to control relationships, whether it be with your significant other or friends, ends in hurt because people never do what we want or expect them to do. Putting exceptions on people and situations is dangerous and ultimately results in a game of Sorry. When we play this game with Jesus, his love for us doesn’t alter, but our happiness doesn’t have a chance to bloom. Putting all of our fears and worries into the Lord and trying to fully live out the lives that he gave each of us opens our hearts up to experience joy. When we don’t put limitations and restrictions on Gods power, you life will empty itself of sadness and disappointment because a life fully lived in Jesus Christ will never lead us to be disappointed. Letting go is what leads us to find joy. Psalm 30:5 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Over the last 3 weeks I have felt this overwhelming feeling of pure happiness that I finally realized was joy. College can be difficult and it presents a lot of challenges, but with that being said, I have had so many happy memories so far this year, but I have never experienced joy. I have had my fair share of happy moments, but they are often short lived due to grumpy moods or being hangry. When I gave all of that to Jesus and asked him to renew my soul and help me see the joy in every situation, my view on life changed. I have been able to find the joy in every single moment for the past few weeks and it’s a feeling I could only experience with Jesus. I think God for the simple joys in life and I pray that each of you will put your worries and controlling ways in Jesus’ hands and allow him to fill your life with joy. Normally I focus my posts around a specific bible verse or portion of the bible, but today I wanted to speak from the heart. I personally love reading stories of Christians and their daily experiences with the lord and how living in him has changed their lives. I pray that each of you would open yourselves up to joy and understand that joys comes from Jesus and nothing else. Control is personally an area that has kept me away from experiencing God’s joy, but something else may be keeping one of you from it. Walking through life with Christ is a complete and total journey, meaning it will change all areas of your life, not just one. Happy Sunday and God bless! Sydney
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