JOY
There is something about dancing for me. It frees me to move around. My heart and spirit are filled with joy and I tend to not worry about much in the moments I am dancing. I feel like it is a place for me to escape – a place for me to just be me. The Lord knitted me together knowing that He would use it as one of my ways to connect with Him. Do you feel like that with anything in your life? Take a moment and ask yourself what that might be for you. Each of us have places that we go to in search of a joy that our hearts were created for.
Many times, as women especially, I feel it can be easy for us to focus on all the things that ‘could’ be different. It is easy for us to focus on the negative circumstances that have impacted us. And while our God is one that can use each of those circumstances to work all things for good (Romans 8:28), James tells us that even throughout our struggles to consider it joy.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
When I stumbled upon this verse I was confused at the timing. I had just been broken up with by a man. When he broke my heart, it felt as though all the dreams I had planned came crashing down. I sat in my room with this specific scripture before my eyes and was genuinely confused. Joy? Hello, God? Are you sure? How do I find joy in sorrow, in heartbreak?
As time went on, I began to discover more of what the Lord means when he tells us to consider joy. My bible so perfectly summarizes it, “The pursuit of happiness doesn’t always lead to the possession of joy.” Meaning that if we are searching for happiness, we will only find that temporarily. “Joy does not come from circumstances, but from the presence of God. It is a fruit of the spirit, poured into a believer’s life by the grace of God.”
You cannot have joy without having the presence of God. Our world confuses happiness with joy, but they are not the same thing. I wonder if you are asking yourself right now, how might I find that? Maybe you are thinking your past is too broken, too shameful, too this or that, but Jesus came to break the lies that fill our thoughts with HIS truth to set us free!
The specific story that the Lord has given me to bring before you dates back to Acts 9 in the bible. I don’t have time to write through all the specifics, but I encourage you to always dive in and check writers/pastors/everyone else’s words, through scripture alone! In summary, it is on a man named Saul. Saul hated Christians. He was on a mission to have them killed until one day when He had an encounter with Jesus. Saul was set on a mission to persecute Christians and was journeying on his way to a town for this to be done. Acts 9:3-4 states “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell on the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:8 “Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing.” Saul was blind for 3 days and did not each or drink anything (9:9).
Meanwhile, the Lord was having a conversation with a disciple named Ananias and called to him in a vision. “Ananias! Go to the house of Judas and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. (9:11). “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the gentiles and their kings and the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (9:15). So Anaias did what the Lord said and placed his hands on Saul, “immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.” (9:18) From there, he began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God.
I love the story of Saul/Paul. It is only through the power of GOD that He would choose a murderer and convert him into a disciple to proclaim the name of Jesus. I share this part of the story so that you hear through the word of God that NOTHING you have done and NOTHING that has been done to you is too much or too late for Jesus. We each have a specific place in the gospel to bring others to know Jesus. Many times, it is our past or the hurt that we have experienced that God plans to use.
Saul's name was later converted to Paul as he became a missionary for Jesus. On his first missionary journey, he encountered much opposition. Paul was in a city preaching the gospel and almost the entire city drew near to hear the word of the Lord (we are now in Acts 13:44). “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.” (13:45).
I find this important to bring up and point out because the mission that God sets before our life is not always easy. In fact, I have found it to be exceedingly difficult at times, yet I am filled with the most joy I have ever experienced when I am on God’s mission. I would not change it for a thing. As a follower of Jesus, there will be times when others do not understand. There may be times when people do not believe in what the Lord has spoken to you/through you or potentially even persecute you. Yet, my hope that more of us become more like Paul. Acts 13:51 states, “they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium (a new city) and the disciples were filled with JOY and with the Holy Spirit.”
Joy only comes from having the Spirit live inside. It is not given by the world. It is not given by circumstances. It is the presence of the Lord. You have access to that same joy today. It is a decision that will change your life – it was a decision that changed mine. If you feel a nudge to step into the place of joy today, spend time talking with Jesus.
Lord, may we be women who DANCE with JOY here on earth until we get to dance alongside you in eternity.