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PROGRAM D-7693
What we can do to put energy into our reserves so that we don’t live in that overdrawn, burned-out condition? We’ve already seen that one great source of energy is joy. How do you keep joy in your life?
First, you understand that it is not dependent on your circumstances. Joy rises above the circumstances. I’m not talking about a party-atmosphere, but I am talking about inner, consistent joy.
Secondly, you control your thinking. If you think about the wrong things, your joy will be robbed. Negative thoughts, critical thoughts, judgmental thoughts, complaining thoughts—these will all rob you of joy.
Thirdly, you confess your sins immediately and keep a clean slate with the Lord. David lost his joy when he willfully sinned against the Lord. He begged God to restore his joy. Many Christians have no joy in their lives because they are living in known sin, refusing to deal with an area in their lives where God has been convicting them.
3. Our Strength Comes from Fellowship and Loving Relationships
Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
One of the great things about being a marketplace Christian is that it forces us daily into interaction with non-believers. But living and working with those who do not share our faith and our love of Jesus is without question a large drain on our inner resources. We need times of fellowship to give us strength; we need church every week; we need small support groups of Bible study and prayer.
I have a class on Sundays that is a wonderful source of strength for all of us as we gather each week. We can come in with burdens and worries, but by the time we leave, we are strengthened by each other. Associate yourself with a group—or start one of your own—that will give you spiritual strength.
We also need those personal relationships from which we gain strength. Marriage was intended by God to be a source of strength. We need close relationships with friends and family. You don’t have to have a lot, but you need one or two. Do you have that person who really cares about the details of your life, to whom you can let your hair down, and be understood and accepted even when you don’t have it all together? Pray for that kind of relationship and be that kind of friend to someone else.