Friday Fruit Talks- {Joy}

Hi! Welcome to our Friday Fruit Talks!!! Today, we are talking about joy. Oh, how our world can be so different when joy is absent than when it is flowing abundantly. Joy is such a precious fruit to have in our lives. There have been times in my life, I allowed Satan to steal my joy. Usually, it was during a storm of life where I felt I was enduring some wrong that I didn't think I deserved.


Psalm 119:61 "The bands if the wicked have robbed me...."


Oh yes, how quickly joy can slip away. And once allowed to leave, we don't get it back easily.


Psalm 119:61, 62 " The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten Thy law. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."


Can we be thankful to the Lord, even in our darkest days? I don't know about you, but it seems like He somehow always restores joy before the storm is even over :).


There was one situation, not too long ago, when I had no joy. I was miserable in my heart, and my misery was affecting my family. I had prayed for joy, I had tried to FAKE joy, but none came. Then, one morning, knelt beside our little stone fireplace, the Lord let me know a little deed I was doing that was hindering my joy. Although, it wasn't necessarily a sin, it was a way for me to try to grasp for control over something I didn't like in my life instead of trusting Him to faithfully heal the situation. He tenderly asked me to trust Him. If I did, it would mean I may never know the truth of a what was really happening, I may never have true healing in a friendship I hold dear, I may never have the opportunity to defend myself, but I would have Him. And I decided He is enough for me. I will love Him and trust Him no matter what the outcome of that trial, and even if I never see the end of that particular storm, He is enough, and His grace is sufficient.


 I gave it all to Him. But joy didn't come right away..... Remember that little deed I mentioned I had been trying to control. The opportunity presented itself the very next day.... I considered, but it wasn't worth it, and I walked away. And as I went about my daily cabin tasks, joy came flooding into my soul, like a dear friend that had been away far too long.


Oh, friend, has your joy slipped from your heart in the heat of the battle? There is hope. He can restore. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning :)