Cultivating Joy When Life Is Hard
Guest post at the Bread and Life
The fourth article in the series “Standing Firm in the Battle” came out earlier this week. It addresses “Cultivating Joy When Life is Hard.”
Here are this week’s excerpts.
Spoiler alert… no, maybe more like an easter egg you find in DVDs. Anyway… in my portion of the fuller article, I included a musical link to a song that long ministered to my heart’s cry for joy in Jesus when my life was hard. I urge you to listen to it and let the Spirit minister to your heart through it. The link to the full article is at the bottom of this page.
from Janet Abadir, who writes at Janet’s Substack:
How can you delight yourself in the LORD? Look at Jesus' humility and meekness, and celebrate this fruit of repentance, trials, and suffering. You will find yourself caring for others instead of comparing yourself to others.
from Dan Blincoe, who writes at the Bread and Life:
You do not find joy by chasing a feeling. You find it by remembering who you are and who He is. Joy flows naturally from that place, even through tears.
From Steven Galatioto, who writes at Faithful Habits:
When you treasure the love of God and recognize what He’s doing in your life, finding the silver lining becomes easier.
From Boma, who writes at The April Journal :
Sometimes, I wanted to scream, "I know, but I don't want to hear it now!"
Now I see that there's wisdom in heeding God's word every time.
The joy of the Lord, truly, is your strength — even in hard places.
For the Christian, joy is an expression of the Holy Spirit within us.
From Cole Nielsen, who writes at Cole Nielsen’s Substack :
Nevertheless, the promises of God cut through the pain as a gentle whisper, "He will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes... there will no longer be any mourning, crying, or pain" (Revelation 21:4). How can we wipe our eyes, though, if we aren't in His arms? How can He melt our troubles if we aren't in the warmth of His chest? "The fruit of (His) Spirit is... joy"
Eric Mattie
Like water, joy can be scarce in the hard times of drought. That means our joy must be deeper stored in our soul, than mere circumstantial happiness and mindful contentment or gratitude.
