Father,
I’ve stopped fighting for joy, and what should be no surprise to me, I haven’t been able to find it. I’ve believed the lie that joy would just come when life slowed down, when circumstances got better, or things happened the way I had planned. But if that’s what I’m waiting on to experience joy, I will be waiting for an eternity. Lord, help me to start fighting for joy again. Help me to choose it in any circumstance knowing that in YOU, I find true joy. Help me to pause long enough in your presence because it’s there that I find the fullness of joy. When present circumstances long to steal my joy, the world convinces me there is something healing about blaming others, becoming a victim to what’s going on, or believing the lie that no one understandss. Father, You understand. And You’ve still told me joy is not only possible, but it’s found in You.
So let it be.
An excerpt from Springboard Prayers by Valerie Woerner