… the cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:15
By nature I am a melancholy person. I have spent a fair portion of my life sitting and staring at the walls in a dreary expectation of blahness. When you see me quietly staring off into space, you are seeing my natural self exerting itself. I don’t know if I was born this way or if I made myself this way through choices of my own. But at some point, I decided it wasn’t very fun, and it wasn’t nearly as “cool” as I thought it was. So along the way somewhere, joy and cheerfulness became a value for me that was worth pursuing.
I have lived in the experience of joy enough to understand that it is a “continual feast.” It truly is health for my soul, and strength for my bones. Living with joy truly is worth the pursuit.
But sometimes this pursuit feels like an uphill battle. Sometimes it feels like I really must “fight for joy” as oxymoronic as that may sound. But this battle is not waged with grit and sheer determination, rather this battle for joy is waged with weapons that are light to carry. These weapons are not burdensome, they are invigorating. So, let me share some of the practices that help me “fight for joy”.
I practice vocal gratitude. I speak out loud what I am thankful for in that moment, and I will often express this to God with an, “I am enjoying …” statement. “I am enjoying the ability of my hands right now to form words on this computer screen.”
We can preach the good news to ourselves. Again speak this out loud. “Deryk, the Creator of the Universe knows your name, and through Jesus He has claimed you as His own. He already forgave you for that thing you are obsessing about.”
I have found spiritual songs to be invaluable in awakening joy within my heart. From songs of praise to our King that help reorient my perspective to songs that remind me of His goodness to me, music helps me experience joy.
Perhaps the single biggest “shot of joy” for me comes in those moments when I am reading the Word and can clearly hear Him speaking to my heart through it. When I realize that the King of the World paused and spoke to me, there is no way for me to not experience great joy.
What spiritual practices do you use to help you pursue joy and a cheerful heart? May you and I experience this continual feast.
– Deryk Pritchard, Preacher
