When my daughter was a young girl, we came across a box of little dolls during a Toys “R” Us venture. Despite their cuteness overload, I passed them over. To this day, I regret not buying them. Silly, I know. 

A few weeks ago, she came across a similar doll and Face Timed me. As soon as I saw it, I said “Buy it!” I felt redeemed. As I opened the box, I regressed about fifty years. I was like a kid in a candy store!

When I placed “Molly” in my work area, a smile the size of Saturn came over my face. Every time I look at her, joy fills my heart.

You don’t need me to tell you that we are living in times that try to suck the joy out of us 24/7/365. So if we want to be able to persevere, we need to get our joy up. Every. Single. Day.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)

The Bible tells us that the devil is laser focused on stealing our joy in whatever way he can. Traffic jams, rising prices, difficult co-workers, illnesses – you name it, he’ll try it. Why does he do this? Mostly, so that he can get our focus off God and onto our circumstances.

And when we are focused on what’s going on in the world or in our lives, then worry and stress creep in. We feel overwhelmed, depressed, and powerless. He wins. We lose.

Therefore, it is critical that we experience joy every day, so we remain strong as we partner with God to get through the challenges we face. We win. The enemy loses.

“…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV)

You see, without joy, it’s easy to feel hopeless about our situation. This is not why Jesus came to the earth. Look above at John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life…more abundantly.” That sure doesn’t sound like a small, joyless, defeated life, does it? Nope!

“But Jen, you don’t know what I’m going through. It’s hard to be joyful.” Believe me, I get it. Perhaps more than you know. Yet here’s what I’m learning:

We are as happy as decide to be.

That’s right. You get to decide every morning when you wake up how happy you want to be. Happiness doesn’t grow on trees, any more than money does. It’s a decision you make.

Do you want to focus on your blessings or your challenging circumstances? Then you will need to intentionally change your thoughts to be God-focused. How do you do that? Open up your Bible and see what God has to say about joy.

I guarantee that if you spend even five minutes in God’s Word, your joy meter will sky rocket!
This week I want to encourage you to discover what brings you joy and seek it out. Maybe it’s a great cup of coffee, a beautiful sunrise, or a good book.

Make a decision to be joyful today and tomorrow you’ll have no regrets.