🏳️‍🌈✝️ Joy in Trust

Written by Debbie West

December 11, 2017

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I found a picture on my phone recently. My niece and nephew jumped over sprinklers and sprayed each other with water guns in my parents’ backyard. They laughed and screamed, running around for hours. As I looked at the kids’ faces in the picture, I thought: “That is pure joy. No cares. No worries. Just enjoying the moment.”

 

I sometimes wonder if I can get to that place of pure joy I once enjoyed as a kid. As we get older, plans for the future and regrets of the past can bog us down. The holiday season in particular is a time of great anxiety for many people. It is ironic that the time of year, when joy and peace are emphasized, is the one when they are the hardest to find. So I have to ask myself, “How do I find real joy today?”

 

Real joy is within our reach, and I think the writer of Psalm 28 understood how to get it: trust in God. It’s easy to say, but it takes effort to stop worrying about the future or the past and trust God with both of them. God has promised to provide the things I need (Matthew 6:33). He says He has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11). He says that no matter what happened in the past, He has a good future for me (Joel 2:25).

 

Joy and fear cannot exist together. When we lay our fears and worries before God, we are free to enjoy today.

 

Lord, you have promised to provide all that I need. Help me make you Lord of my future, present, and past. Bring true joy to my heart today and dispel any anxiety and fear. Amen.

 

Go Deeper ― Is joy something you have not experienced since you were a kid? Take God at His word and trust Him to provide everything you need today. Take one of the scriptures above and memorize it. Meditate on it and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to let go and truly trust God.

 

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