Perhaps you’re walking through something difficult and you feel that by letting go of your anger or sorrow and embracing joy you are somehow permitting the hardship to continue. You are saying, in a way, that it can continue.
Perhaps you are hoping that, if you hold on to the shield of your frustration and feeling of discomfort, God will see. He will see that you are struggling and uncomfortable and fed up. Maybe He will see and take you out of that trouble faster.
Like a child who throws a tantrum in a desperate appeal to get what they want, you rage against joy and peace in the hopes that you will get what you want. Freedom. Deliverance. Relief.
The truth is that, you won’t.
Holding on to anger, bitterness, frustration and even sorrow won’t ease the pain or discomfort. If anything, it will make it worse.
Negative Emotions Steal Your Strength
Bitterness, anger and emotions like these do nothing but steal your strength. They don’t make your situation better instead they torment you. They drain you mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
What room will you have in your mind to meditate on God’s goodness when you are angry? How can you experience inexplicable peace when you are frustrated? How do you pray when you are too filled with sadness and bitterness to even utter a word? You can’t.
And where does this leave you as a Christian?
It leaves you defeated, overcome and overwhelmed. You cannot walk in victory when you press into such negative emotions. But if you lean into the joy of the Lord, when you allow His peace to enter in, you get stronger.
The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength
…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength
Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV)
Throughout the Book of Psalms we are encouraged to rejoice in the Lord, to be glad. (Psalm 5:11, Psalm 32:11, Psalm 35:27) These commands can come across as trite and uselessly well-meaning if you don’t understand why you need to rejoice in the Lord.
Rejoicing in the Lord is to find joy in Him and not in your circumstances. It means finding joy in His goodness, His faithfulness. Joy in the assurance that He will never fail you, joy in His promise that He will make all things work together for good for those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) Joy in the truth that all things do come to pass.
It is this joy that will enable you to keep looking at life with hope-filled eyes. It is this joy that will keep the consuming and darker emotions from drowning you and overcoming you. This joy is what will allow your heart to be opened wider to receive God’s peace.
It is this joy that will give you strength. We are constantly urged to rejoice and to be joyful because the joy of the Lord is our strength. Without that everlasting joy darkness so easily encompasses us.
Lean Into the Joy of the Lord
Like that tantrum throwing child, sometimes we think if we grit our teeth and drag our feet. If we cry and complain and yell, we might get what we so desperately desire. Or that we might make a stronger case for our speedy deliverance.
But there is nothing you need to prove to our God who already knows all things. Who sees all things. (Genesis 16:13)
He hears the thud of your broken heart and He sees the tremble of your tired feet.
He is aware of your deepest pain and He knows your deepest desire and hope.
God is not blind and He is not distant. As you struggle through, He is right there keeping step with you.
God offers His peace but not like the world does. (John 14:27) He does not offer peace with lack of adversary or eternal bliss. He offers His peace in the midst of the difficulties, in the middle of the storms. He offers His joy then too.
So instead of fighting it, instead of pulling away from it, lean into the joy of the Lord. Embrace it with both arms and your whole heart.
It is that joy that will keep you from being overcome by discouragement and it is that joy that will give you strength to keep walking until you come out the other side.
