Have you ever felt joy in the midst of a bad time in your life?  You know…you feel some sunlight shining in on a depressing day; a time when you think you should be grieving or worrying or not allowed to feel joyful?

I know when my sister was battling cancer, I felt guilty if I was happy or felt joy about something going on in my life.  It was like I was punishing myself to never feel joy again because the circumstance at hand was so bad.

But God wants us to live above our circumstances.  He says when we know Him, we can be joyful always and give thanks in all circumstances, even the bad times.

I don’t understand it.  And it makes me feel guilty.  But that guilt is not what God desires.

I’m not saying you ignore grief or bad circumstances that are happening in your life or that you throw a party for a sad time.  But I believe Paul was telling the Thessalonians in I Thessalonians 5:16 -18 that it is okay to be joyful in the down times because worrying gets us nowhere.  Be joyful and pray continually and keep on giving thanks to the One who is in control of it all.

‘” A spiritually dry time can happen when we allow the goodness of our Heavenly Father to be camouflaged by all our heartbreak.”  – Kaylene Yoder

Read that line again.

When we let our heartbreak and our worry camouflage the joy and goodness that our Heavenly Father is giving us, then we can get spiritually dry.  We can get down and depressed.

Let’s vow today – just starting with one day – to give that one heavy load to Jesus and find joy and goodness in today.  You don’t have to look down the road to the future.  You don’t even have to look to tomorrow.  But just for today, don’t let your heartbreak camouflage your joy.

Let’s do this together.  Slowly. Hand. It. Over. To. God.

Now, breathe.  And allow JOY to enter your soul.  One. Day. At. A. Time.