Don't Let Life Steal Your Joy

Lately, life, it seems, has been an uphill struggle for everyone around me. Whether it's in our relationships, our finances, our dealings with people in the outside world: we're barely hanging onto that cliff by our fingernails. Know the feeling?

It can be really easy to lose sight of our purpose in times like these. "Why do we even try?" has come out of my mouth more than I'd like to admit. Tonight, God revealed something to me, in my quiet time before bed. Everyone else was asleep, and I was fixing lunches like mamas do.

He said, "Don't let life steal your joy!"

And I realized, oh my, people are watching me. And what is worse than an embittered, cynical Christian? We have a job to do, a purpose. Our life is a living witness before others, and if we can't live it with joy, well, then everything we say and do to honor God may appear forced or false to the unbeliever. They can smell a phony from a mile away.

Lord, help me to hang on tight to my joy. Help me to live a witness that is the real thing. Help me remember that trials are temporary, but Your Joy is just around the corner, waiting on my faith to show up.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5