Always Be Joyful

“Joy is prayer – Joy is strength – Joy is love – Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa

The circumstances in life do not always bring about happiness. But this doesn’t mean that we cannot find joy where we are. Ours is the greatest joy in knowing God Himself came down from heaven, suffered, died and lived again for our sake, to give us eternal happiness. And so in whatever situation we may be, we have joy, if not in actual possession of it, in our certain hope that it will be ours.

Joy is with us always,

in our hearts and in our hands,
in our triumphs and in our failures,
in our fullness and in our emptiness.

For how can we be far away from it
How can we ever be so far?
Joy can be found where God is,
And God is always where we are.

I will tell you what my joys are –

in suffering, it is Christ
in sickness, it is healing
in dying, it is the thought of new life

in defeat, it is in future triumphs
in silence, it is prayer
in confusion, it is wisdom

in calamity, it is being able to repent
in poverty, it is the charity I may give and receive
in sacrifice, it is the presence of love

in blessings, it is my gratitude
in uncertainty, it is hope
in happiness itself, it is the thought of far greater joys and of eternal bliss

Joy is here
Joy is in my tomorrows
Joy always
And always, JOY!

“Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10, WEB-BE