Restore my Joy!

We've all had them. Times in our lives when we receive a word, gift or something at just the right moment to lift our spirits or even cheer us on.
The other day I was talking with another homeschooling mom about the day to day grind and she was telling me how last year she spent a lot of time in frustration, confusion & even anger when a friend of hers said,"you've lost your joy, I will pray you will find it to the fullest."

Wow! I mean I can't really say that I was experiencing that ~ losing my joy~ but I could see that maybe I just wasn't experiencing it to the fullest myself. The very next day I got a letter in the mail from Ransomed Heart Ministries and can you guess what the topic of the letter was??? JOY!
"Okay Lord, you must be wanting to say something to me."

Since it was so good, here is a little excerpt from that letter:
"Anyhow, I begin to realize that what I've done for most of my life is resign myself to this idea: I'm really not going to have any lasting joy. And from that resignation gone on to try and find what I could have. Now to be fair, joy isn't exactly falling from the sky these days. We don't go out to gather it each morning like manna. It's hard to come by. Joy seems more elusive than winning the lottery. We don't like to think about it much, because it hurts to allow ourselves to feel how much we long for joy, and how seldom it drops by.

But joy IS the point. I know it is. God says that joy is our strength: "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). I think, My strength!? I don't even think of it as my occasional boost. But yes, now that I give it some thouht, I can see that when I have felt joy I have felt more alive than any other time in my life. Pull up a memory of one of your best moments. The day at the beach. You're eighth birthday, Remember what you felt like. Now -- think what life would be like if you felt like that on a regular basis. Maybe that's what being strengthened by joy feels like. It would be good.

I take up a concordance, and begin to read a bit on joy. "My heart leaps with joy" (Psalms 28:7). When was the last time my heart leapt with joy? I don't even remember. "You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound" (Psalms 4:7) I believe him. I believe God does this. I just can't say I really know firsthand what he's talking about. I turn to the Gospels. What does Jesus have to say about joy? "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:11). "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and your will receive, and your joy will be complete" (John 16:24).

Joy complete? The full measure of his joy? That's what he wants for us?!! I'm almost stunned. I can't believe it's come down to joy. It's so obvious now, and yet, it makes me really uncomfortable. Joy is such a tender thing, I think we resent it. We avoid it, because it feels too vulnerable to allow ourselves to admit the joy we long for but do not have. But I know this -- I know we were meant for joy, and I know I can't continue to live with only occasional sips of it. I found myself praying, Jesus, I have no idea where to go from here. But I invite you in. Bring me all the joy you have for me. Help me to see it when it comes. Help me not resign myself to surviving. Restore my joy.

May this touch your soul in such a way as to spark JOY!