“A joyful heart is good medicine…”

Proverbs 17:22

 

Don’t these kids look like they’re having a day full of fun? The joy in their hearts is written all over their faces…and their bodies, too, for that matter!

 

Do you remember the last time you experienced true and tangible joy? I mean the kind that makes you laugh out loud. The kind that puts a skip in your step and makes you forget about any of the heavy stuff weighing you down. 

 

If we’re honest with each other, you and I have both experienced times when things were so bleak or challenging  that it seemed impossible to have joy, even though we desperately craved to be happy. “Cheer up! Things aren’t so bad! This, too, shall pass” … those well-meaning messages from our friends don’t always take our mind off the situation we’re in, especially when the resolution is unknown. So, what can we do when we don’t know what to do?

 

I was reading Psalm 86 this week and encourage you to read it, too, especially if you find yourself stuck in a low place. When David wrote this prayer, he was in a terrible place in his life, scared of what surrounded him and unsure of what was ahead of him. It’s a prayer full of pleading, and this particular verse jumped out to me:

 

“Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.”

Psalm 86:4

 

Instead of being dragged down by his circumstances or walking around in defeat, David wants to be joyful, in spite of it all. He doesn’t want to mope, whine, or even complain. He wants to feel alive! 

 

As believers, we know our only hope is to trust in our great God to work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28). David clearly expresses that in his agonizing prayer, but he also does something else. He reminds the Lord that he is putting his full trust in God’s care…and then David asks the Lord to give him joy. I can hear David right now, “Hey, God! I’m doing my best to trust you, but things are really hard right now, so could you just fill me up with joy? I could sure use it right now.”

 

What an honest prayer! God heard David’s pleas and did, indeed, give David joy despite his circumstances. It’s a prayer that I believe God will honor in our lives, too. When we find ourselves in between a rock and a hard place, filled with despair and with absolutely no control over what is going on around us, let’s be honest with God about our fears and uncertainty, put our trust in His plan, and ask Him to fill us up with joy. He is listening and wants to give His children great and unshakeable joy!