Joy.

     These two words have been resounding in my heart almost nonstop lately. This last week has been difficult. It's been as if I was in a battle with life and every time I got up from being knocked down, life would knock my feet out from under me again. I've been so emotionally drained and exhausted but deep within my heart, I've kept hearing the Lord sweetly remind me to "rejoice always."

     According to dictionary.com, rejoice means "to be glad; to take delight." I kept wondering "How can I be glad when life keeps kicking me in the dirt?" It's hard to be glad when you feel like you can't even breathe and you just need rest. But then it hit me. Joy isn't always synonymous with happy. While happiness is circumstantial, joy is a choice. Joy is looking at the brokenness that surrounds you and acknowledging that it's there but still choosing to delight in who the Lord is, who He says you are, and His plans for you. In my own strength, I see myself as defeated, empty, and unworthy to serve the Lord. In the joy of the Lord (which strengthens us!) I see that I am anointed, equipped, and made worthy by the finished work of Jesus. 

     So even though I FEEL defeated because of my circumstances, I KNOW that I am victorious because of what Christ has done and I have been adopted into the Kingdom of the Most High God and because of that I will rejoice always.