“I once had joy….and I let something steal it from me.”  A thought we have probably ALL felt before, at some point or another.  But just as they said that, I instantly, without planning to, began to think about what they had just said.  The sentence itself is actually very smart….to identify that you had something, and that you let something, or someone, or some circumstance take it away from you, is a very smart thought.  The person I was talking to is EXTREMELY intelligent, so it didn’t strike me at first.  But then my mind began to race, and that race brought me to this blog.  Nehemiah said “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (8:10).  It is in Him that we find our joy as Christians.  Are there times when being a Christian is hard?  Of course….in fact, every day that we live where it isn’t hard, means we may be too comfortable in being inactive, or complacent with living in the background.  As Chris Moncus has said, we need to enjoy the “easy” times as Christians, because they are rare…but we have to make sure that we aren’t negligent to the point of keeping ourselves there.  Trials are hard…they are no fun.  But it is what you do with them that make up who you are.  The Bible says in John “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (10:10). The devil is ALWAYS looking for an “in” when it comes to Christian and their lives…I think this is especially true for those who are really doing a great work, or have the potential to do great work, for God.  The devil will use people, or situations, or circumstances that you can’t control, and try to make you lose faith in Christ.  Not your overall acceptance of Jesus, but your faith that he is really running the show.  In another conversation I had, with a different person, they were sharing how in the last couple of weeks, they had a hard time at work…things weren’t going well for them, because there were several problems that were beyond their control to fix, that were standing in the way in their job.  To make matters worse, it wasn’t that they couldn’t fix the problems because they didn’t have the ability to….they did….it’s that they weren’t allowed the opportunity to.  It was this stalemate that made their job so frustrating.  They realized one day, that you can’t worry about things you can’t change.  Sometimes circumstances just are what they are, and you have to accept them, and learn how to best utilize them.  After that, they began to work with what they had…they did the best they could, and God’s glory was revealed, even in the midst of things not being “right”.  They are now really happy in their job, because they realized it’s not about the details, it’s about Christ, and making an impact for Him, DESPITE the pitfalls of life.  Was it, and does is still continue to be a journey?  Yes. So, maybe it’s not so much that you had joy, and someone stole it from you….but maybe it was God’s Joy, and you stole it.  It’s so easy to get into the human state of mind, where we fret about how things are going to turn out, or how things could be better, or whatever… But sometimes, God is putting us in the situations He is, because He wants to show us something….He wants us to stop worrying, focus, and find His joy that WE misplaced.  He isn’t moving, He is leaving, and He’s not going to let us fall.  We have to realize that our mission is to “Seek and Save the Lost” (Luke 19:10).  The odds might not always be in our favor, but we have to know, that God has specifically placed us in the positions that we are in.  We are here, to offer our talents, our skills, and our abilities to further His kingdom, and bring glory to His name.  The Bible says “For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” (Deut. 16:15).  We can’t get caught up in the crummy details that Satan tries to put in our lives, because that is how he wins….We have to constantly remind ourselves that we, as Christians, are always in this together, hopefully giving it the best we can, all for one common purpose…to seek and save the lost. 

Don’t let the Devil steal God’s joy from you…Serving Christ should be fun, exciting, and fulfilling every second we are in His presence.  As soon as we feel obligated to serve, or that we have to serve, the Devil has won.  "I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."  (Rev. 2:4-5)