Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10z NIV).
It is simple. Joy comes from God. His presence is full of joy and it radiates to you from there.
Joy cannot be bought. It is a gift from above. It cannot be imitated. If you try to do so others would easily see through the thin mask of happiness that you wear on Sundays.
Joy is contagious. It spreads around. If you have it, others would flock around you. They would go with a smile on their face because they spend time with someone who had joy.
And joy is strength–Not any kind of happiness, but joy that comes from the Lord; that is strength. This joy comes from a variety of reasons.
The first among them is that God’s presence is fullness of joy. As you enjoy God’s presence through reading of the Scriptures, joy wells up within. As you meditate on your loving relationship with God, as you think of His forgiving love for you, as your heart thanks God for accepting you as His child, joy erupts within. As you talk to your Heavenly Father and listen to Him in prayer, joy leaps within.
Indeed, the knowledge of having been forgiven is a cause of joy. To know that you’ve been accepted by God as you are with your unique strengths and weakness, to be loved and cherished for a time beyond time, for ever and ever, is joyous indeed.
The strength that such a joy provides needs to be experienced to be believed. Such a joy comes when God’s smile of favor like a rainbow arches over you. Let the joy of the Lord lift you up from the bed of sorrow and give you strength.
Then shall there be a spring in your step, a song in your heart, a cheer in your voice, a twinkle in your eye, a vibrancy in your handshake and sound of victory as shouts of joy in your camp!
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