Who Needs Her Joy Back

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

WHEN OUR KIDS WERE LITTLE, my husband, Jared, built a large sandbox in our backyard. The kids loved digging in it, but they loved getting the hose and flooding it with water even more. Then they could build sandcastles, dig into the cooler sand below, and watch their small tunnels turn into flowing streams.

Just as you might expect a mess after traveling to the beach, our DIY Oklahoma shore came with quite the cleanup. But for some reason, the mess didn’t bother me during that time of my life. I was surrounded by disarray anyway. What was a little sand? I was a happy momma who loved to see her children experience wonder at the world around them.

I don’t remember setting that version of myself aside, but if I were to fold this season of my life over on that one, you’d find a stark contrast. I got busier, I guess—impatient and easily frustrated. Maybe I just got to the point where life felt too chaotic, and I valued order more than wonder.

The truth is, I don’t always feel like the happy momma I want to be for myself or my kids. I wonder if you feel the same way. There’s a story found in the book of Nehemiah about the people of God returning to Him. They had been carried away into exile in Babylon. After they were finally permitted to return and rebuild their city in Jerusalem, Nehemiah realized that there weren’t any walls to protect the city. So God put it on his heart to oversee the reconstruction of them.

As the people of God returned to the city of God, they heard the Law read to them again. They heard what God had intended for them. They heard how He wanted them to live their lives, and they realized how far they were from what the Lord had for them. And they grieved deeply the difference between where they were and where they wanted to be.

Nehemiah, the governor; Ezra, the priest; and all the Levites answered them...

“This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

The joy of being with the Lord, knowing the Lord, trusting the Lord, following the Lord, and inviting the Lord into their lives . . . they would experience it. His joy would be their source of strength.

Friend, I think maybe we sometimes get too busy trying to do it all in our own strength. We know we need God’s help and try to give it over to Him, but in reality, we just keep doing it ourselves. We end up tired and frustrated, going through the motions rather than experiencing the joy around us.

As we turn our hearts back toward the Lord—confessing that we need Him and rely on Him—we receive Him. And with Him comes joy. Listen, we don’t chase joy and get Jesus. We stop and invite Jesus into regular moments like this one. We look around and say, “I can’t do it all, and I need You to help me. Help me enjoy my life. Help me enjoy my kids. Take away the burden of frustration that’s stealing my joy, and help me remember that You’ve already figured out all the things I’m worried about.” And as He comes into the room, so does the joy of His presence.

Tonight let’s ask God to return what may have been lost or stolen by situations or circumstances outside our control. Let’s ask God to restore our joy and our strength.

Tonight we pray for the momma who needs to get her joy back. Lord, she is grateful for the life You have given her, but she isn’t always glad. She wishes she could be a more content mom, but when everything feels overwhelming, she doesn’t often laugh. Tonight, Lord, we pray that Your joy would become her strength. Please remove all the anxiety, fear, or discouragement that has kept a lid on her laughter. We ask that joy, like a good medicine, would heal her heart from all hopelessness and that tonight she would again have Your supernatural peace and joy.

We ask in Jesus’s name, amen.

Lord, I want to experience Your joy. Help me to rest in You, even as You work in these areas of life that seem to be stealing my laughter: