Lately, I have been feeling like I am in this vicious cycle of working my eight-hour shifts, coming home, crashing, and sleeping. I have been participating in work, work, and more work. I have been feeling like I am in the Groundhog Day movie, just reliving each day.
Sometimes, I am so hyper-focused on getting tasks done at work that I become mentally and emotionally drained to the point that it steals my overall joy. I’m also realizing that the different environments that I am in are also affecting where I am getting my joy.
Continually working and being hyper-focused on things lately has made me realize that I have become so overwhelmed with achievements, accomplishments, and successes. I have become focused on pulling joy from my job, my career, and making other people happy. However, my life isn’t about just making a profit or earning a paycheck. My joy isn’t about completing a certain task and crossing it off my list either. My source of joy needs to be God.
I am not going to lie. I have become quickly drained from allowing other things within this world to steal my joy. However, my stressful circumstances shouldn’t determine how I feel about God nor how much joy I receive from Him. My relational issues shouldn’t determine my joy. How many likes I receive on my latest Instagram or Facebook post shouldn’t determine my joy. What I watch on the news each morning or evening shouldn’t drain my inexpressible joy either.
Yet, in the world that I have been living in, I have been allowing certain worldly things to steal my joy. I have allowed some things to consume my thoughts, my heart, and my mind instead of God. I have allowed fear, worry, and the lies of the devil himself to defeat my joy and hope in the Lord.
Wow. Can anybody else relate? Maybe you have been in a similar circumstance where you have felt like you are in a vicious cycle of work, work, and more work. Maybe you have allowed relational conflicts to determine how much joy you are soaking in from God the Father. Maybe you are in a circumstance like Job from the Old Testament feeling like you can’t get a break from the storm you are in. Trials and tribulations keep hitting and you can’t seem to find God’s joy anywhere.
I will admit that it is easier said than done to not allow our current frustrations to affect our joy. James 1:2-4 in the New Living Translation reads, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
James mentions that when we experience trials and tribulations of any kind, we can be confident knowing that we will receive the fullness of God. We will reap His joy.
1 Peter 1:8-9 in the New Living Translation also shares with us, “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
If we read the verses prior to that, we see that Peter is talking about joy again. He isn’t talking about the joy that we receive when we get our next paycheck or promotion. It isn’t a joy we gain once we finally get 2.5 million followers on our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok pages. It is a joy that stretches beyond our understanding of this world and of Heaven itself. It is a joy that extends beyond our knowledge of what joy can really look like.
The world, with its many trials and tribulations, tests us. The joy that Peter spoke about is a joy that we fully receive when we get into Heaven or when Jesus comes back. “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
When we accept Jesus Christ into our lives and pursue a relationship with Him on a deeper level, we receive a joy that surpasses our understanding. We receive a hope that Jesus will soon be coming back to restore His kingdom. When Jesus does indeed come back or we pass away, I believe we will be greeted by the One who calls us by name. We will also be greeted with an inexpressible joy.
Honestly, I love the description that Peter shares with us. It gives us hope, a spark, and courage to take heart in our Lord, have faith, and hold on for just a while longer. The evil within this world tries very hard to snatch the hope, faith, and joy that we have in our Father as well, but the evil will never win. The wonderful thing about being a follower and believer of Christ our Lord is this - we have a joy in our souls that is sealed at the time of accepting Christ into our lives. We have an inexpressible joy that not even the powers of Hell can take away from us because we are expectant, we hope, and we worship an Almighty and powerful God that lives and will reign forevermore. Amen.
***If you like blogs similar to this one, check out Morgan’s newest book release, Inexpressible Joy: Finding God’s Everlasting Joy in a World Full of Temporary Fixes. In her newest release, she guides believers through nine specific lies that the world tells us daily. To combat those lies, Morgan shares major truths contained in God’s Word while reminding believers that only He can satisfy them and make them whole while they are on a thoughtful path to finding their true divine purpose and experiencing God’s inexpressible joy. You can find her book on Amazon in softcover and e-book.
Morgan Faith
Morgan Faith is a non-denominational Christian author and blogger. She has written and self-published two Christian living books so far and plans to write more in the near future. In all of her books, blogs, and videos, she enjoys incorporating personal experiences for readers to grow, learn, and relate in their own personal lives and relationship with Jesus Christ. Morgan always desires to apply biblical concepts to modern day living to help each individual leave feeling filled and inspired. Check out Morgan’s published books, "Having a Heart for Jesus" and "A Time to Be Real: 100 Day Prayer Devotional" on Amazon.
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