WHEN DELIGHT IS A STRUGGLE

WHEN DELIGHT / JOY IS A STRUGGLE

Bible commands is to rejoice

Don’t feel joy?

Bible gives to us the gift of not have to live a pretentious life. The psalms show us that struggle is real and that the call to joy and rejoice are not automatic.

What are signs of a planted life

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE STRUGGLING FOR JOY IN THE LORD?

I. You Make Right Choices

Psalm 1:1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF A RIGHT CHOICE?

1. Know that there are only two category options: a. Righteous options b. Wicked options

2. Be honest with the Lord (and yourself) about what you are feeling?

He can handle it and you cant

Know the motion of your heart and emotions and fight to get your feelings to faith

THAT IS WHAT WE SEE IN VERSE 2

Psalm 1:2 ESV

but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE:

YES, DELIGHT LEADS US TO THE WORD

BUT SEE AND UNDERSTAND THIS:

IN SEASONS OF DRYNESS, DELIGHT IS A FRUIT OF THE WORD

Holiness (JOY) is always and exclusively about the choices we make.

1 john 1

1 John 1:4–5 ESV

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6–7 ESV

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:10 ESV

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

JOY AND OBEDIENCE ARE CONNECTED

JOYLESS CAN HAPPEN BECAUSE OF DISOBEDIENCE

JOY CAN BECOME LIGHT THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE

II. Remember That Life Is Made Up of Seasons.

Psalm 1:3 ESV

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Every Experience Is A Season

- Some seasons are tests

(CULTIVATING THE GROUND. SEED IS THERE BUT NO FRUIT BECAUSE FRUIT DEMANDS CERTAIN CONDITIONS.)

John 15:2 ESV

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

- Some seasons are fruitful

Note that a settle life is the result of an obedient life. The choices we make in seasons determine, not the season, but our life in the season.

HOW DO YOU NAVIGATE SEASONS?

1. REMEMBER GOD’S LOVE: The Lord sees You

Genesis 16:7 ESV

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

Genesis 16:8 ESV

And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

Genesis 16:9 ESV

The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

Genesis 16:10 ESV

The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

Genesis 16:11 ESV

And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

Genesis 16:12 ESV

He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Genesis 16:13 ESV

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

- note the difference between loneliness and being alone

YOU HAVE TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING ALONE BECAUSE SOMETIMES THAT IS THE SEASON

John 16:32 ESV

Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

2 Timothy 4:16 ESV

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

DO NOT IMMEDIATELY INVITE OR ALLOW PEOPLE INTO YOUR SEASON UNTIL THE RIGHT TIME

SOMETIMES WELL MEANING PEOPLE AND EVEN “GOOD” ADVICE CAN ABORT THE LORD’S PURPOSE IN YOUR SEASON

2. REMEMBER YOUR IDENTITY: Your worth is not in your season but in your Savior

Isaiah 43:1 ESV

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 43:3 ESV

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Isaiah 43:4 ESV

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

Isaiah 43:5 ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

NOTICE THAT IN THE STRUGGLES OF LIFE: Is 43:2-

Isaiah 43:2 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

PASSING THROUGH THE WATERS

THROUGH THE RIVERS

WALK THROUGH THE FIRE

NOTICE THAT THERE IS NO “IF” BUT “WHEN”

BUT ALL OF THIS COMES AFTER THIS DECLARATION:

Isaiah 43:1 ESV

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

I CREATED YOU

I FORMED YOU

I REDEEMED YOU

I CALLED YOU BY NAME

YOUR IDENTITY WILL ALWAYS DICTATE YOUR BEHAVIOR

THIS IS WHY HE GIVES THEM THEIR IDENTITY FIRST BEFORE HE TELLS THEM ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES BECAUSE:

3. REMEMBER YOU ARE HIS INSTRUMENT: God is shaping you for someone else’s help

2 Corinthians 1:3 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

2 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

IV. DESIGN YOUR LIFE SO HEAVEN NOT THIS WORLD IS YOUR JOY

John 16:20 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

John 16:22 ESV

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

PRIORITIZE TIME IN HEAVEN WHILE ON EARTH