Believe it or not, I don’t always wake up full of joy. In fact, sometimes my first thoughts are dread, fear, or despair. I begin stressing out about work at the office piling up. I’ve got to spend all day in depositions with an attorney who is difficult. A person I love and care about is angry with me and won’t even talk to me despite my best efforts to figure out the problem. You get the picture. It probably looks a little like your day does sometimes.
But, I have a superpower.
I have a way to change this dim picture.
And—if you are born again, you do too!
When our soul and spirit are born again, we are “in Christ” and we can allow Him to control our mind and emotions. We have a choice. There is no weapon that can defeat Christ. In fact, we are the only ones who can rob ourselves of His power. We must make choices about what we will allow to crowd our mind.
Our problems always become larger in proportion to how small we make God.
One sure-fire exercise to make God bigger in our life is to begin thanking Him for all the benefits of being His child. Throughout the Bible we see the strong connection between thankfulness and joy. This is especially true in the Psalms:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not ALL His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Bless the Lord, all His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!” Psalms 103:1-6, 8, 10-14, 22
And what can we possibly think to complain about, worry about, or stress about if we truly believe God has given us all these incredible benefits??? Ah, the sincere and honest acknowledgement of these great benefits will increase joy 100%. How? Well, it gives you God’s perspective about your problems because you realize He is handling all the BIG issues like your eternal destiny. And all the while He’s doing the BIG, eternal stuff, He is also able to take care of our physical needs.
If you’re like me and you tend to focus on physical blessings instead of the more important spiritual blessings, you lose your way. But when we begin to thank God for all the Psalmist recited, that is—redemption, love, mercy, satisfaction, renewal of strength, justice for oppressors, and forgiveness of sins—we realize there is not much more that we need.
God has promised to never leave us.
That alone is reason enough for joy. This morning, if you are struggling with the problems of the day ahead, dig deep into your relationship with God. Ask Him what you need to thank Him for. Ask Him to reveal any sin that is causing you to feel distant from Him and ask Him to help you forsake it.
My relationship with God is more precious than I can express or even comprehend. God’s presence is the source for our greatest joy. He is our strength and our Redeemer. When we begin to give thanks, our attitude aligns with the attitudes of Christ and we live in the joy of His presence.
