Walk With Him Wednesday: Joy

I'm participating again this week in Ann Voskamp's Walk With Him Wednesday. The assignment this time?

For the next 3 weeks: The Practice of Joy…. What does it mean to choose Crazy Joy? How do we authentically walk through hard times? How do practice the “gigantic secret” of Christians?  We look forward to your Scripture study, stories, encouragement….

Unquestionably, the gigantic secret of Christians everywhere is joy. But as busy moms performing a hundred mundane tasks a day, how do we get there? Surely it doesn't arise from our sweeping, scrubbing, wiping, changing, folding, fixing and preparing...all while fielding interruptions? Surely it doesn't arise during discipline problems or money problems or relationship problems?  

Joy is such a meaty topic, we'll concentrate on just one aspect a week. Today let's discuss access. What everyone wants to know is this: How do we access joy? 

In preparing for my study, I read through five or six different topical studies, hoping to find the best scriptures pertaining to joy. And do you know, three-year-old Beth woke up three times during my four-hour study? The third time I had to finally ask the Lord...what are you trying to tell me here? That you don't want me to complete this study? For surely I need time, don't I? Can you please give me time, here, God?

I think I heard the Spirit say, "Little Beth finds joy in your presence. She finds joy in nourishing at your breast, for her divine comfort. You are her joy, and I am yours. You find it in my presence and in my Word. Gradually, children replace the joy of Momma's presence, with the joy of My presence. So, go, be with her now. Give her joy in your presence, as I give it to you."

Every Christian has access to all the fruits of the Spirit, including joy. If you are saved, joy is available to you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

It's common to mistake happiness for joy. Happiness is based on circumstances; joy is based on presence. His presence. Psalm 21:6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. 

Don't gloss over the verses here, but really drink them in.

Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, who call upon Him in truth."

Psalm 43:4 “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” 

Habakkuk 3:18-19 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.



Everything available to us through our union with God? It's not automatic. This is a grievous misconception of many a Christian. God must be pursued! We cannot scrub day in and day out, sweep this and that debris away, sacrifice for our families, labor over our children's hearts, and then experience joy automatically. We must pause and go after God. Find him in the garden. Spend time with Him: talk to him (prayer), sing praises to him (worship), and meditate on his Word (study).

Psalm 119:111 “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.” 

While in His presence we will know peace and joy, despite the circumstances of the moment. Remember that peace is a Person, not a destination. Psalms 63:5-7 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Isaiah 12:6 “… Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”


Did you know that if you drink a full glass of water, it boosts your metabolism for some time after you consume it? And the closer you get to 8 glasses a day, the higher your metabolism will be? It's the same with joy! The more you drink in of God and his Word, the more joy you'll have, and the longer it will last. If it's been more than 24 hours since your last fill up, expect anything but joy.

First of all, you aren't likely to obey God if you spend too much time away from him. Disobedience brings unnecessary turmoil. John 15:10  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Our joy is complete when we remain in Him? It's that simple? Yes! I have experienced this time and again, after horrific hours and even whole days. Joy is only as far away as my Bible and my pause for prayer or song.

“What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him.” ~ A. W. Tozer

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, I love you. Thank you for your promised presence. Thank you for the joy it brings to my soul. I pray that same joy for my children, my husband, my family and friends. May we all remain in you daily, may we remember how very close you always are, ready to comfort, nourish and bring joy. Father, thank you that we can pause at any time, during sweeping, during laundry, to speak to you, to sing to you, to drink from your strength and your peace. If needs and children are everywhere and our Bible is not, let us remember song...for we need only our voice to praise you. What a beautiful gift you are! May we spread our joy, sharing the secret with the lost and the lonely. May we not keep hidden that which is most precious .We love you, Father. Thank you for the exceeding joy!

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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