Count Your Joys

Are you living in the trouble that each day brings, or are you continually counting your joys?

March’s Awakening, Day 10

Joy is always the result of God’s presence, God’s blessings, God’s justice, or the fellowship found with other believers.

 —Kristin N. Spencer, “The Truth About Godly Confidence”

Man is fond of counting his troubles but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.

 —Fyodor Dostoevsky 

All joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more amusement) emphasizes our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.

 —C. S. Lewis 

Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. Psalm 21:6–7 NIV 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 NIV

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. Isaiah 61:1–3, 7 NIV 

            When was the last time you went through your day counting all your joys? It is much easier to mumble and grumble and expound upon all your troubles, isn’t it? Those negative thoughts and words have a profound impact on how you view your day—and your life. It is truly disheartening that we tend to focus on the negatives instead of living in all the positives—and we are all guilty of doing this to some extent. I would imagine that if we seriously took the time each day to count all that was right and good and positive, it would certainly overwhelm the negatives by a landslide. Living in His joy is a daily choice. We can choose to see and live in all that’s good, or keep our blinders on and live each day only in the trouble that it brings.