So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
John 16:22
No one can take your joy from you, especially if you recognize from Whom it comes. If you rely on it coming from elsewhere, disappointment is inevitable.
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
John 16:20
Your sorrows will turn into joy. You can trust that, even if it seems like a distant possibility.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:10,11
Consider the root of your joy, or lack thereof. Consider making adjustments accordingly.
That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
John 21:7
Let us respond to Christ like Simon Peter did here, with absolute abandon and enthusiasm.
Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.
Deuteronomy 4:9
Don’t lose sight of the work God has done and is doing in and around you. Beyond keeping it close to your heart, be intentional to share it. Sharing God’s work will ingrain it in your mind and heart, and encourage those with whom you share it.
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25:6,8
Imagine experiencing the place described here. The God Who promises this for us is the same God Who is listening to your heart’s every beat.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Isaiah 52:7
Bring good news and happiness today. Publish peace and salvation. Proclaim “God reigns!” Your message will be salve to weary ears, joy to tired hearts and reassurance to aching souls.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Luke 6:21b
The tide changes; if this is a season of fear, sadness or grief, allow the gravity of your circumstances to penetrate to the deepest places, making a way for the healing and joy that is to come.
For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Matthew 13:16,17
Let us not take for granted each and every moment that we experience God today – in the glimmer of the sun on the water, or in the giggle of a baby or in the answer to a prayer – thank Him for giving us the grace to hear and see Him at work in and around us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
2 Corinthians 4:8,9
An easy life hasn’t been promised to us; a faithful Savior has. Lean into the hope and faithfulness that we are assured He offers when despair and suffering attempt to overshadow your joy.