Choosing Joy Every Day
Since beginning college, I’ve struggled with feeling grumpy. All my time is spent doing homework, and the stress of homework, driving on the freeway (yes, this actually does stress me), and missing quality time with my family builds up easily. College has been harder than what other college students assured me it would be, and being a commuter means I don’t build friendships as easily with other students. So, all in all, I’ve been grumpy lately.
Something God has had to remind me over and over, especially these past few months, is that joy is not determined by my circumstances, but by my heart.
Selfishness is the killer of joy. When I focus on myself – what I want, what I’d like, who I am, what makes me happy – I find that I am left with discontentment.
Some days I just feel “off,” but I learned that when I am feeling off, it’s not because I’m just having a “bad day.” Off days are (usually) a result of a discontent heart.
When I wake up in the morning, I have a choice to make. I can either focus on myself or focus on Christ. This decision, whether made subconsciously or not, really determines whether I will choose joy that day or not.
When my focus is inward and I think about me, I find discontentment. But when I focus outward and keep my eyes on Christ, suddenly I find that my day is much better than I thought before, and I have joy.
Here are a few lessons God has been teaching me about choosing joy:
1: Make prayer and time with God a priority.
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11
Life can be very busy, but when I stop and take time to pray and be in God’s presence, there is true joy. It’s hard to choose time with God when there are so many distractions calling for our attention, but making the deliberate choice to spend time with God is always worth it, and there truly is the fullness of joy in His presence. Something that has been helpful for me at college is to take time to pray between classes. Thanking God for my day and finding my strength in Him, especially for the classes that aren’t my favorite, has proven to be very helpful.
2: Meditate on God’s goodness.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders. Psalm 119:27
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Psalm 145:5
Meditating on the goodness of God requires knowing His character, and that in turn requires knowing His Word. When you know God’s character more, you can understand His goodness more and it brings more and more amazement the more I know Him. When I take time to dwell on how God has been good in my life and dwell on all His promises in His Word, it’s much easier for me to choose joy because I’m focusing on the source of joy Himself.
3: Bless someone each day.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Romans 12:1-13
Taking time to bless someone focuses your attention away from yourself and onto someone else. I recently was given an assignment for Bible class to find ways to bless other believers, and I was amazed at how much that ended up blessing me! Writing encouraging notes and doing little service projects where I could, helped me see how blessed I was to have other believers in my life, and seeing how my small act blessed them encouraged me. Blessing someone else really does end up coming back to bless you and brightens your day!
4: Choose to stand in joy.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
Anytime discouragement, grumpiness, or self-pity comes knocking at our door, we have a choice. We can either open the door and welcome them in, or we can say “Get out now!” We must choose to stand firm in Christ and not let any evil get by!
I encourage you to choose joy today! Stand strong in the strength and joy of Christ!
With love,
Kelsey
