The other day at school someone posted a paper in different areas of the school. On that paper it read to “Take one”. Take what? Well, at the bottom of the page it had words, in a tag format, for you to rip one off and take like, peace, love, joy,… I guess you could say the “Fruit of the Spirit” list, but I can’t recall all the words on the list at this moment. Whatever they were, I loved the idea.
When I first saw it, I noticed that no one had taken any words, so I thought that it was just there for us to read. Then later in the day I become aware of some missing tags. So, I scanned the list of encouraging words again, and saw the word joy. I tore it off and said, “Ain’t nobody gonna steal my joy!”
I carried that tiny piece of paper around in my pocket all day and later tacked it to a board beside my desk. I would feel it in my pocket and then look at it on my board over the next couple of days, and again say to myself, “Ain’t nobody gonna steal my joy!” knowing that my joy comes from the Lord.
I did keep that word in my mind for a few days, and it seemed to remind me to prioritize and focus on the joy that God gives me each day. And then, I let it happen…I allowed folks/circumstances to “steal my joy”. Ugh!
Whether it was a “feel the pressure” type of meeting, the last class period of the day, one of my own children, or whatever/whomever, I allowed my joy to be depleted. (Hence the dry spell of my writing over the past week.)
I’d pray and open God’s word each day, feel His love and gentle reminders, but in the back of my mind, I still had some joy missing.
I’ve kept a couple of bible-verse-of-the-day scriptures opened on my computer. One is “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”Psalm 27:14. Yes. I know! But waiting is what I didn’t want to have to do in one situation, but I know that “This too shall pass” and that God’s got this! (Okay, Lord, I’ll wait. I’ll try my best to wait patiently, but I will wait.)
The second verse-of-the-day was “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. Ahhh, one of my all time favorite bible verses. Again…(Yes, Lord, you know what my earthly desires are, and I know You want my desire to be You alone. Okay. I desire You and your will for my life.) It excites me to know that when I turn my focus and desires to Jesus, His plan is always so much better than the plan that I had mapped out in my mind for me.
And then…this morning, before I did anything else, I did my daily chat with God. This time, I was reminded about that word joy in my prayer and asked God to speak to me and through me, and to give me joy in my heart and peace of mind. I then proceeded to read the verse-of-the-day, and guess what? No, don’t guess, just read this for yourself: “Your help made me so happy. Give me that joy again. Make my spirit strong and ready to obey You.” Psalm 51:12. Hahaha, God was like, “You asked for it.” And my reply to Him is, “Yes I did and thank You, Lord!”
Just like keeping that tiny piece of paper in my pocket, on my board for glancing at, or on my mind would keep His joy fresh and my heart happy, that’s what His word does for us when we keep it in the forefront of our minds.
I pray that you will keep God’s word in your heart and remember “Ain’t nobody gonna steal my joy” as long as God’s in control. Give it all to Him.
To whomever left those papers on the wall at my school, if you ever read this (first of all, please don’t be critical of my grammar, you would keep yourself quite busy editing my entries, hahaha) thank you. Thank you for the gentle reminder that I need His joy in my life ever second of the day.
I pray God’s abundant love and blessings for y’all.
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