The joy that we have been given as a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ is priceless. Many of us struggle to understand how to apply the joy of the Lord into our lives enough to gather strength from it.
I remember when my kids were younger, I would observe the events that would trouble them.  Many of these events were simple fixes to a parent, but to child, this was not the circumstance.  I feel the same is applicable to most of the situations that we are facing in our lives now. We trouble our minds so deeply over every issue in our lives, and yet with each, God has already set into motion the solution we will need to the problem.

God knows so much more than we do. I think many of us know this, but we don't apply it in times of pressure.  We resort to statements like, "Since I can't really do anything about what I am dealing with, I guess I will have to ask God for help." We often exhaust everything we can as a human and then reach out for the Lord.  Many of the times when we are rushing around trying to figure out what to do on our own, we are hindering the very strength that God is trying to render to us within our application of His joy in our lives.  We have such strength when we remember that Christ loves us and we are always within His protection, His assistance, His comfort, His sustaining all that we are not on our own. Each of these statements our strength to our ailing souls, but we have to let them live a longer life than just being words upon a page.

Instead, they need to become words where we draw the strength from in order to face all that we are in life.  My daughters will come to me at different points in worry over different matters. After talking over the matter, I am able to help them place perspective to what they are facing and that they can feel reassurance that I am here to help and that they don't have to face their troubles alone.  I reassure them of how loved they are and that we all make mistakes.  You see, this and SO MUCH MORE is what Christ is trying to do for us in our troubles.  He wants us to come to Him to find our strength because He is an unless pool of love, joy, and all things true and positive.

Christ never has a feeling anything less than being in love with us and living for us.  Always deeply desiring to help you lift your head from your troubles and instead to stare into His eyes that bounce in joy over you.

We are loved. We are worth it to Jesus. He's already proven what He felt over us. He already came and gave His life in order that a permanent connection would be eternally in place between you and him. Others in life might have let you down, but this is not true of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the next time you face something that seems to suck the strength right out of you, instead of rushing to try to fix it all, take a moment.... place Christ first and ask Him to fill you with the joy that He alone can strengthen you with.  Troubles come and go in life, but Christ lasts forever. Pastor Daniella  http://pastordaniellaministries.weebly.com  https://twitter.com/PastorDaniella