All of us long for lasting happiness, a joy to be in our hearts no matter the circumstance. We have moments in life where we have complete peace and joy and we are in the clouds! But then we hit a low, and all that peace and joy we knew seems gone.

Have you ever felt this way? I know I have. I’ll feel so much at peace and be filled with joy and WHAM! It’s all vanished. Be it hormones, emotions, circumstances, or anything that can often get me down, I usually end up staying down.

Recently I had one of these experiences. There was nothing wrong in my life, yet I just felt down. Yes, there were a few things that I wished were different, but overall everything was going well. Except me. I was just down. Worst of all, for church we were challenged to encourage others that week! How was I going to be encouraging to others if I wasn’t even encouraging to myself? I was a downer. Everything was setting me off. Why? I wondered.

I bet you can relate. We think, why am I down? and continue wallowing in our “woe is me” moment until we know why we feel the way we do. Sometimes these moments can even last for days! (Oh, yes, I know!)

So what is the cure? We all want some easy, one-step, cure-it-forever way out. You want to know the secret? I found it.

Joy is more than just a feeling in our hearts. Joy is not only found in the perfect moments. Joy is found when we are firmly grounded in the Lord, trusting Him, and delighting in Him.

Psalm 37:4-5 “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”

Delight means to have satisfaction, pleasure, and enjoyment. To delight in the Lord means to be satisfied, to find joy, in God! Joy, peace, and happiness don’t come from what we do or from our circumstances. They come from the One who lives in our hearts. We must choose to delight in the Lord, and to be satisfied in Him. Instead of dwelling on all the “what ifs” and the “if only’s,” we must dwell on our Lord’s faithfulness to us. God is faithful, and He is worthy of our delight!

This is the secret: Real joy means that despite everything else in your life you are delighting in the Lord. That is when you will find real peace and joy, because God is your satisfaction, pleasure, and even your enjoyment! Spending time with God should bring pleasure to our hearts and refreshment. His words should satisfy us, for man doesn’t live on bread alone, but on the words from God (Matthew 4:4)!

And you know, God wants to satisfy our hearts. He wants us to find pleasure and satisfaction in Him.

• Psalm 107:9 “For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”
• Psalm 16:11 “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 149:4 “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.”

God wants us to delight in Him, but you know what? He already delights in you. He wants what’s best for you. He wants you to know the peace and joy that He brings. He wants you to be satisfied, but not with possessions or anything on earth, because He is the only One who can meet all our needs. Real joy is given freely to those who choose to accept it from His loving hand.

Okay, so what do you do when you hit a low? Maybe you’ve accepted this joy, but sometimes you find yourself in that hole, wondering how you fell in. The enemy of our souls doesn’t want us to be satisfied in God. The enemy wants us to be discontent with God instead of finding pleasure in Him. If you’re feeling down and want to get back up, here’s some practical tips for finding the joy from God.

1: Pray. Always pray. I’ve found that when I’m not joyful, sometimes I don’t want to pray, but this is the best restorer of joy. But don’t pray half-heartedly. Pray earnestly! Pray for God to restore your joy, but then turn your attention to God, and take some time to delight in Him. Thank Him for all He’s done and is doing for you. Thank Him for His gifts. Pray for the people He’s put in your life. Pray, pray, pray! (I would recommend getting by yourself and deciding to pray for a certain amount of time. This may sound legalistic or gruiling, but trust me – it’s worth it! I’ve done this and often find myself praying longer than my set amount of time!)

2: Read the Word. God will speak to you as you read. The Psalms is a good place to read when you’re down. Some good ones are Psalm 136, Psalm 138, and Psalm 40 (there are many, many more!).

3: Sing. Yes, and sing out! It doesn’t matter how bad your voice is, because God will still love it! Turn on some music (music that honors and worships God), crank it up, and sing at the top of your lungs. Often through music we can praise God and get our emotions realigned to where they need to be.

4: Dance. Yes, I just said dance. Dancing to Christian music is a great way to praise God and get your heartrate up. Sometimes exercise is needed to help release the negative emotions and get good hormones to help cheer us up. Plus when you exercise to worship music it helps your mind focus on God.

5: Talk about it. Is there something that keeps coming back to you and stealing your joy? Are you worried about a test, or your future? Are you scared about something? Are you jealous of someone? Sometimes we need to talk and pray about our struggles with a trusted mentor in our lives. I know when I’m really down I like to go to my mom. Sometimes I don’t know what’s bothering me, and she can help me figure out what is the source of my worry/fear/depression, pray with me, and help me overcome it. Maybe you have someone like that in your life already, but if you don’t please find one! It can be a parent, grandparent, friend’s parent, older cousin, etc. Someone who loves Jesus wholeheartedly and wants to help you learn and grow in Jesus too.

Lord, teach us to delight in you!

With love,

Kelsey