The Bible has a lot to say about Joy, and we want that, but we often think our situation must improve for us to have joy in our lives. Logically we know those things do not correlate. We can have joy, but still have lots of troubles we are having facing.

Happiness and joy are not the same things, and we tend to get the two confused.

When we look at what makes up joy, we can have a better understanding of it.

The first thing I want us to think about with Joy, is awareness. We need to be aware of the things that can bring joy in any situations. Often, we have problems in our lives, and we forget to look for the joy. It’s not that we enjoy the problems, it is that despite the pain we can find great joy.

Anyone can learn how to do this. It is simply deciding that you are going to look for the opportunity to look for the joy despite of the pain.

If we have the faith, that we are going to find joy and grow from it, then we are going to get something out it every time.

We need to be aware of the blessings, but the next step is to appreciate them.  Appreciation is assigning value to something. We need to see the blessing in what we have and joy will come from that. So, we need to be aware of it, we need to have value for it, and next we need to go to God in prayer and thank Him for it.

If you are having a hard time doing these things, I understand! I have a hard time with it sometimes too. It is a good practice to sit back, calm your mind, get rid of the distractions, and meditate on what you have. It is worth it to take the time to appreciate, to guide yourself, and ask yourself questions. What would life be like without this? Are you appreciative, and do you recognize what you have now?

Another part of Joy is having peace. It is very hard to have joy if you do not have peace in your life. Part of having joy in times of sorrow is learning how to have peace within yourself. There are three kinds of peace. One, the kind inside. Two, the peace we have with other people. And three, the peace that we have with God.

We must let God have all our burdens, so that we can have that peace. All of those worries we have, we need to give to God to handle. And we must leave them with Him. We cannot keep picking those burdens up if we want to have peace in our lives.

What things have you learned about joy and peace in your own life? Are you giving God your burdens so that you can have peace? Let me know, I would love to hear from you!