Joy Stealers

I just returned from a 2000 mile motorcycle trip with my husband, brother and sister-in-law. We spent 8 days together and covered a great deal of territory. So why would I feel the need to write about joy. Well when you spend more than a week on the back of a motorcycle, being wind blown, seeing God's beautiful country and maybe being a little sleep deprived it gives one time to think, feel and react. Lately it seems the word and the idea of joy keep showing up. I have taught on joy, I have read about joy and I have experienced true joy. One of my favorite verses on joy is found in Nehemiah 8:10 "...the joy of the Lord is my strength." But what is joy, true joy? Is true joy dependent on our circumstances like happiness is? I don't believe so, however if you are a true born again Christian, joy comes from the Lord and from our faith, but too often we get to choose if we are going to live in that joy or if we are going to allow the "joy stealers" to convince us to lay our joy down.

What do I mean by joy stealers? The four most prominent joy stealers are worry, stress, fear and anger. These thieves will be working every day to crush your spirit and try to rob you of your joy, but they can't unless you allow it. Let me explain the difference between these words; worry is an inordinate anxiety about something that may or may not occur. We have all been there, we worry about things that "might happen, or what if it doesn't happen idea." Stress is a little more acute than worry. Stress is intense strain over a situation we can't change-something out of our control. Instead of handing it over to the God who can control all things, we churn it over and over until it intensifies and seems more sever than it really is. Fear is different from worry and stress. It's dreadful uneasiness over the presence or perceived presence of danger, evil or pain. The thing or situation feared may be real or anticipated. Finally anger, anger is a deep root that if not addressed just keeps growing deeper and keeps producing damage. Allowing the actions or words of others to determine our joy is handing what God has given us over to the enemy.

So what do we do about the joy stealers in our lives? First we must remember what Paul told us in Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus". Has God really begun a good work in you? If that is true, and the Bible says it is, then we can turn over our worry, stress, fear and anger to a God who has everything under control and already knows the outcome. It would be great if this could be done once and be done, but this a daily, (He is still working on you) sometimes minute by minute thing we must do in order to bask in the joy of the Lord. We must realize that every time we choose to pick up worry, fear, stress, or anger we have to let go of our joy. We must lay it down, or rather hand it over to the enemy, in order to pick up those things; the joy stealers. Think about that the next time one of those joy stealers wants to rob you of your joy. Stand firm, use God's word as your sword (...take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. II Cor 10:5), put on the full armor of God and refuse to let the enemy win,