Life can be such a battle at times. We are in constant fight for peace and sanity. There are so many beautiful things around us and sometimes our mind chooses to see what causes us pain over joy.
Maybe it’s because pain feels drastically different from joy. Pain aches your soul while joy lifts it. Pain pierces the heart while joy replenishes it. Pain fills us with agony while joy restores our hope. Pain leaves us broken, while joy makes us whole. As I reflect on the effects of pain versus joy I now see so clearly why the enemy uses pain to hold us in captivity. I see how he uses it to influence our minds so much that pain sometimes affects us greater than joy.
But pain is not from God; joy is! God did not create us for pain; He created us to be filled with joy! But what is the root of joy? Where is it found? I truly believe with all my heart that true joy is found at the feet of Jesus Christ. At the foot of the cross. Joy is found on our knees when we intimately connect with the true Restorer of hope, life, redemption, and joy; true eternal joy is found in Jesus Christ alone. Through Christ we experience authentic abundant joy that defeats the pains of this world. Through Christ the agony, the depression, the captivity, and the piercing hurt from pain is broken and it no longer holds us.
So the next time you face a situation that causes pain, know that you have a choice and I pray that despite the weakness you may feel, that you choose joy!
Your Grace Abounds 