Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Joy!

Joy: a source of happiness, gladness of heart

In our day-to-day existence, there are just so many things that can steal our joy if we allow them to. The fact is, there will always be situations and circumstances, but it's important that we refuse to allow those situations and circumstances to steal our joy. You see my friends, Satan knows that if he can steal our joy, we will walk around in anger, depression, and even fear. And then before you know it, those things will try to consume our lives to the point that it feels like there's no source of happiness and no gladness of heart... no matter where we are or what we are doing. This is the reason why we must refuse to let anybody steal our joy.

Nehemiah 8:10 tells us: "Then he said unto them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." You see, true joy is not the things of this world - it's not because we get a new house, a new car, or a fat bank account. If it were that simple, the suicide rate wouldn't be so high, and we wouldn't see or hear about so much bad news. We simply cannot allow ourselves to lose our joy - because we don't control ANYTHING! Our job is to put and keep our focus on the one who can give us true joy and peace. The world didn't give us this joy, so why should we let the world take it away??

Of course, every day won't be filled with ice cream and cake. Let's face it, our children, our spouses, our co-workers, our finances, every pain in our bodies, and even some of the people right next to us in the Church will try to get the best of us. But I'm here to tell you that we must count it all joy and turn it over to the one who has all the answers... and is truly the only one who can fix it. When we give it to Him, He will turn our sorrow, our anger, and our distractions into JOY. But first, we need to do our jobs - refuse to let anyone steal our joy!

Let's stay focused on our source of happiness - He wants us to have gladness in our hearts. You don't have to take my word for it - you can read it for yourself! "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalms 16:11).

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!