Gail Rodgers Sharing the Journey

Hope for the Heart Part 04 - The Key to Joy

by Gail Rodgers

Have you ever felt the closeness of God, enjoying His presence and feeling like you never want to stray from that place? Then all at once you realize your joy is gone and you are simply feeling flat? God’s Word tells us why this happens and what to do about it. Listen to Psalm 51:12:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Do you see how a willing spirit is connected to your joy? The chapter is a familiar one calling us to search our hearts and to desire truth in the inner parts.

In the rush of our daily lives we can easily get caught up in the thinking around us. We can allow things into our hearts and lives, that seemly “everyone” is doing and we quiet the uneasy stirrings in our soul. We wonder why we feel flat when we have known God’s presence so recently.

Our willingness to have God speak to us in the inner places of our heart is the key to keeping His joy. Oh, some of the things He may put His finger on may seem, at first, too small to consider…

• unkind words spoken about a neighbor or co-worker
• keeping the extra change the store clerk mistakenly gave you
• distorting the truth
• allowing unforgiveness to settle into your heart for a long stay
• cheating on some paperwork

Or it may be bigger things you tell yourself you will face someday…

• immoral behavior that you are sure no one knows about
• a destructive habit that threatens to become an addiction
• financial pitfalls that you hope to control before they control you

Go to God with a willing heart and ask Him to search you and help you to overcome whatever He puts His finger on. No momentary satisfaction can ever replace the joy of being clean before Him. That’s what you were made for… to be a clean vessel His Spirit can flow through. Don’t miss the blessing… anything else is simply not worth it.