Joy as a verb

I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

Habakkuk 3:19

Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

Have you ever noticed how much more strength you have when you are joyful?  Perhaps you've noticed how beaten-down and powerless you feel when you're sad. Of course, you don't choose the circumstances that surround you, and you can't expect to feel joyful all the time when you are in the midst of  grief or suffering.

My Auntie Grace was one of the most joy-filled people I've ever seen. I first met her at my grandfather, Clifford's, funeral.  She was rejoicing that her dear brother was now with the Lord he loved. Her cheeriness inspired so much fun in the hearse, the somber driver didn't quite know how to react to us. 

We all still missed Clifford terribly. We were still grieving, but Grace infected us with the joy of the Lord, and we shared it that afternoon despite our pain, and rejoiced freely.

With her life, she showed one of God's powerful tools for coping with suffering. Choosing to rejoice is not a Band-aid, pretending that you're not hurting.  Rejoicing is instead taking your eyes off yourself and moving them on to the God who created you, restores you, rescues you. 

Rejoicing is a powerful act of seeing who God is, seeing what he has already done, and giving him credit for it--praise. The simple act of getting your focus off yourself and onto him will make you feel better, no matter what else is going on.  But when you are then reminded of WHO he is, you will become stronger and more genuinely full of hope.

As you can imagine, rejoicing is a powerful weapon against satan (intentionally not capitalized).  The last thing that old serpent wants is for God to get honor, and the second to the last is for you to have joy. If the only things you can think of to rejoice about are that chocolate isn't poisonous and that baldness isn't illegal--there's your start.

Then, move on to his love for you.