“The Joy of the Lord is my strength”
Hallelujah anyhow!!! Is that your story? Can you praise God despite the chaos around you? Are you thankful in and out of seasons of plenty and poverty?
”With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”—Isaiah 12:3
Life is full of challenges, heartaches, rejection, disappointments, but hallelujah anyhow should be our shout of praise! True happiness is not found in accomplishments, titles, achievements, riches, materialistic possessions or intellect. Happiness is a direct result of thankfulness! People who recognize their basic every day blessings, are people who know from whom those blessings flow! People in remote and impoverished environments who, despite what society may believe are ‘suffering,’ have more joy and offer up more praises of thanksgiving to our God for their ‘little’ than those who have ‘plenty’ and stumble or forget to even be grateful and bless God for food on the table, a roof over their head and heat and clean water.
A thankful spirit is a happy and joyous spirit. One flows directly from the other.
If you seek happiness, increase your prayers to God Of thanksgiving! Go serve and feed those who are in need and watch the joy and happiness seed sprout and blossom inside you.
Your outlook on your life, your situation, your depression, your loneliness, your heartache will dissipate and be replaced with an inexplicable joy. You will grow strong in the spirit, and any ‘dark’ areas will be overcome with God’s light.
”That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong!”—2 Corinthians 12:10