Advance: Living Unstuck & Moving Forward in FaithSample

Day 16: From Heaviness to Joy:
Why do we need joy? The Bible says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10, NIV). We need strength to fulfill our purpose. Your heart may feel heavy because you are trying to figure out the future and you’re worried about uncertainty. We have all been there. You need to know, though, that God wants to give you joy in the journey! We can choose to rejoice. Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV) says, “Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” When we praise God, we don’t rejoice because of any outward circumstances or hype. Our joy is based on our hope in Jesus.

You may very well be in a season of waiting right now. Waiting for an answer to prayer, waiting for a dream to come to pass, or waiting for something to change, and I want to encourage you to trust in the Lord. He is with you. Even in the waiting time of life, take time to praise God. He is for you and He can give you joy in every season when you choose to rejoice.

The Apostle Paul was thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel. He wasn’t expecting to be in that situation, but in the midst of it, he chose to make the most of it and write the epistles to the church of Philippi. In Philippians 4:4, 11, and 13 (NIV) he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice. . . . I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstance. . . . I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Paul gives us a great example of keeping joy on the journey no matter what the circumstances may be. He chose to rejoice and be content because he knew God was with him.

In fact, in Acts 16, when he and Silas were thrown into jail, he began to sing and praise God at midnight. I’ve been in the underground jail in Rome where the Apostle Paul was, and it is dark, damp, and dirty. Even in his lockdown, he began to praise God. As he began to praise, God sent an earthquake! The jail began to shake, the doors flew open, and their chains fell off. All the prisoners were freed, and the jailer was so worried about his own fate, he was going to kill himself. But Paul stopped him and led that jailer, and then his family, to Jesus! God used a moment when they were in lockdown to send revival to that jail because Paul and Silas chose to rejoice. God brought breakthrough not only to Paul, but also to the jailer, because of Paul’s choice to rejoice.

Having joy on the journey doesn’t mean we don’t face challenges, but it means we can rejoice because we know that we have the greater One living in us that helps us to overcome! When you choose to rejoice through all circumstances, you experience breakthrough.