j o y

Christians have to fight for joy. 

That's such a backwards concept! You wouldn't think that in the battle there is joy, or while you are joyful you are also fighting. But this is the life of a person who follows Christ!

These past couple weeks the Lord has been teaching me to experience His joy even when circumstances are less than joyful. In my own heart, God has gently been showing me things I need to surrender in my life. And like the stubborn child I am, I tried telling God different reasons why I don't need to completely give these things up. 

I told myself 

I'm strong enough,

I'm satisfied enough,

I'm happy enough.

I was saying these things so much that I wasn't grasping more of Jesus. I was telling myself the amount of Jesus I had in my life was enough. I could hold onto these things while still "following" the Lord and everything would be alright. 

But you know what?

I lost all sense of joy. 

I was trying to do this all on my own, 

& I lost the fight. 

This is where I was a few weeks ago. Although I was still spending time with the Lord in prayer and the Word, I felt like I was stuck. 

I cried out to my Father, where are you? You say You'll never leave me, nor forsake me, yet I cannot understand why I feel so empty. I need you to fill me up! 

And that's when He spoke so gently, so sweetly, and so strongly into my heart. 

He said,

Beloved, I am right here! But you have placed these things between us. If you want to be closer with me, then you need to give them up. 

You need to choose what is more important. These relationships, things and ways you spend your time, or Me?

The moment God spoke these things to me, I was amazed at how free I felt. The peace of God truly does surpass all understanding! Let me tell you, surrendering is not easy. And it's something my flesh absolutely hates. At times during these past weeks, I have felt that maybe through surrendering these things I'll be missing out on them. I definitely feel a loss, because now the way I spend my days and the people I spend my time with might be very different. Honestly, my heart hurts over that. The enemy so quickly wants to use that to discourage me. And that's where the fight for joy comes in! 

Through this process of surrender, I have had to press into Jesus. I have spent so much more time simply being in His presence because He truly is the Comforter of the lonely, the Mender of the brokenhearted and the Healer of the hurting. If I had not experienced these feelings of loss or sadness, I never would have been able to experience the Father in these ways! If my life was constant happiness and good thing after good thing, how would I get to experience every single part of the Father's heart? 

So now I can happily tell you, my heart is rejoicing greatly! My God is good. He is so good. Waking up every morning and getting to immediately talk to Jesus is a blessing beyond comprehension. 

I get to draw close to his heart when the enemy using words like 

You aren't good enough,

You'll never be worth anything,

You're unwanted here.

Instead my Father tells me words like

You are good enough for me,

In Christ you have worth beyond measure,

You are wanted in my kingdom and I sent my only Son to die for you to ensure you would be my daughter. 

And friends, let me tell you, I would rather have a life of sorrowful circumstances while understanding and experience more of God's heart, than a life of happiness only touching the surface of Who He is. 

Friends, God is alive and beyond active in the lives of those who call upon His name! He is constantly beckoning us, but sometimes we are hard of hearing because we have blocked our ears. If you feel like God is faraway and not working in your life right now, can I encourage you to ask God to show you what needs to go in your life? Maybe it's simply more purposeful time spent with Him in prayer. Maybe there are things you need to literally remove from your life. Maybe the way you spend your time could be rearranged to better glorify the Lord. Maybe you simply just need to run back into His arms and rest. 

Whatever it is, I promise you, God is there and ready to embrace you!

If the circumstances surrounding your life seem to be blocking out the hope, can I encourage you to press into the heart of the Father? This life offers hurt and pain, but God offers unending life, joy and comfort. 

He loves you.

He knows you by name.

He is constantly beckoning you to His side

He is more than enough for you. 

"Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

{ Isaiah 54:4-6, 10}