Why Are You Not Joyful?

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again --- rejoice! - Philippians 4:4 NLT

Such a simple verse and yet, it's not something that I or most Christians are associated with.

"Joy"

But why aren't most Christians considered joyful? Why don't most people consider me joyful? I must confess that I feel like an anxious mess some days. Always worried about how to get out of the current situation I'm in or worried about things I can't control. But should my worries overtake my joy?

Can my trials seperate me from God's love? Do my trials negate what Christ did for me on the cross? Are my trials harder to overcome than Christ overcoming the grave? Of course not, but yet I still act like they are. Oh how the enemy loves to take our eyes off the joy of The Lord and have us focus on the worries of the world, the things God could so easily handle and put us at rest if we just gave our concerns to Him.

So let's place our worries and anxieties in the hands of God today so that we can experience the joy He desires us to have. For it is not God who gives us a spirit of anger or anxiety. We can always rejoice and be joyful in His salvation.