by Debbie on March 11, 2016
Psalm 30:11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing;
You removed my sackcloth and
Clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.
As I was reading in Psalms 30 this morning it caused me to reflect on some times when my life was just the pits! Depression, anxiety, and tears filled my daily routine!
It was next to impossible to get out of bed before noon and then it was by a pure determination that I know only God could have put in me. Truthfully I was at a point in my life where I would rather die than live.
At times I truly felt as though God had hidden his face from me. My future looked dim. I had all but lost my hope and joy. I certainly did not feel secure and I was shaken to pieces! I was truly a broken vessel.
As dark as those days of my life were I am grateful for them. Do I want to be in that place again? Absolutely not but without being broken God could never be able to use me to tell others that joy is a choice. I didn’t choose joy! I chose fear! I worried, I cried, I went to a dark place! It was painful and it was ugly but God brought me up from the pit. The darkest places in our lives can be used to bring light to others!
O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
Psalm 30:2
Some days calling out to God was simply a pillow full of tears or a faint cry of ‘help me Jesus’ but God heard and answered.
He truly did turn my wailing into dancing and removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
The very first song I ever attempted to sing with my vocal teacher was Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder. It was a special song that I recorded and put on a CD for my husband for Christmas one year. He said I sounded like a rock star! What a guy!
God wanted me to trust him in some very rocky times in my life but I fell into a pit of dark fear instead. O how I wish I would have stood strong and sang praises to the Lord during those times but I didn’t have that kind of faith in God yet!
We never know what might happen in our lives but I have learned from those very dark times that God never leaves us.
Colossians 1:13-14
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
If you are in a dark place right now, turn on the light. How do you do that? Put some praise music on. Listen to it! Sing it! There is nothing wrong with going through difficult times! We all have to, but during those times we need to protect our joy. Don’t let the devil steal your joy because when he does he takes your strength too.
Nehemiah 8:10
…Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Psalm 30:5
…weeping may endure for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
It’s okay to cry but don’t let a night of crying turn into days of darkness and depression.
Choose joy over and over again and you will not lose your strength.
A great definition of joy is: knowing that you are going to receive something good from God.
Why? Because God is always good but our circumstances are not always good. Joy is a KNOWING not a feeling!
Keep choosing to know that God will give you something good! He will! He is good that way! I know! I hope you do too!
Let your heart sing to God and not be silent! The enemy is listening! He hates it when we praise the Lord! He will flee! Guaranteed!
God of hope and joy,
May you the God of hope fill our hearts with all joy and peace as we trust in you so that we might overflow with hope (and joy) by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen