Choosing Joy

My mind is racing again.  With all the things I need to do here at home.  With those Christmas gifts that still need purchased (and in some cases thought up).  With the holiday baking I should do with the kids.  With all those Pinterest projects I have yet to do.  With the yearning to draw and paint and to be artistic again.  With the fact that I haven't been faithful in exercising lately and I am feeling a bit flabby.  With issues concerning family members.  With the fact that I have lost my joy in life. 

 

There I said it.  I have lost my joy.  And I am trying hard to find it.  To beckon it back to me.  It's hard to find joy when my mind is full of an ever-growing to-do list.  Expectations from those around me.  My own expectations.  And a sense that I am failing as a mother.

 

So I am praying that God helps to restore my joy.  I have heard people say before that we must CHOOSE joy...but how?  When you feel so completely and utterly drained from the demands of life HOW do you just choose to be joyful?  I certainly don't want to be fake.  I want to be joyful because, well, I AM joyful. 

 

The definition of Joy is:

1. great happiness: feelings of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind
2. something that brings happiness: a pleasurable aspect of something or source of happiness
3. to enjoy something: to delight in something

I went to Bible Gateway and did a search for the word Joy and here is what I found...

 

*There are 66 references to Joy in Psalms.  And most of which have to do with shouting for joy and singing.  I feel like I do enough shouting around here but not of the joyful sort.  And I don't sing often enough but love to and need to more.

 

* Proverbs 12:20 tells us that those who promote peace have joy.  Are my words promoting peace?

 

* Proverbs 15:30 says, "Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." Is there light in my eyes when I am a messenger to my children?  Or has the light grown dim and therefore brings no joy to my children's hearts or even those around me?

 

*Proverbs 29:3 says, "A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father"  Do I love wisdom?

 

*John 15:10-12 reads "If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."  Is God's love for others missing in my life? 

 

These are just a few of MANY verses that sort of stuck out to me.  And I think these verses provide enough insight for me to change my perspective on the journey to find joy once again. 

 

I pray you have a day filled with JOY!