Rediscovering JoySample

We’ve all met them. You know—those people who seem to always be in a good mood and who have that certain something that makes you drawn to them. These are people who seem to naturally exude joy and delight—to them “the glass is always half full” and “every cloud has a silver lining.” 

But if God’s first response to us was a certain kind of vibrant delight—and if we are to be reflections of Him—then joy is definitely a gift for all of us to open and enjoy!

Author and speaker Ann Voskamp says this of the gift of joy: “Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy.” God wants to give us more of what He has. He wants us to freely accept what He offers. 

“Take it! Take it!” God whispers to us after a year of brokenness and pain. “Take joy!” He calls to our spirits that are bruised and hurting. “Take joy.”

And so we must because we cannot refuse God. 

But how do we do this if we aren’t naturally inclined to view life through a lens of gratitude and delight? Again, God has made it possible simply by how He has made us! 

Research in the areas of neuroscience and the brain has shown that our brains are quite malleable—they are continually being rewired and changed by every new conversation we have, every new habit we pick up, and every new event in which we participate. According to leading neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman, we are never the same going into a conversation or activity that we are going out. We are continually changing.

This is good news for a new year! 

If God is a God of joy, and if He created us in such a way that we always have the ability to change how we act, respond, and see the world, then what is stopping us from rediscovering this incredible gift of joy that God so naturally displays? Oftentimes, we are the only thing getting in the way of taking this gift, aren’t we?

Jesus said, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24) and “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Hear the whisper: “Take joy.” Will you turn away? Or will you accept His great gift?

Tomorrow, we will look at myth #2: that joy isn’t attainable all the time.