Turn On The Light
“Joyful. Joyful we adore Thee
God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light of day”
Have you seen the Reel on Instagram that is going around where the person is like, “today is not the day, and I am not the one”? That is me today. I am not feeling it. I am still tired from last Saturday and also from staying up until 2 am to finish a book that I started reading at 9 pm Sunday night. Why did I start a book at 9 pm you ask? Well, I was thinking I would just read a chapter or two before going to sleep. I was wrong. So anyway, I am tired, and I am irritable today. I am frustrated because this blog post was supposed to be written yesterday, and I sat staring at a blank computer screen for 2 and a half hours yesterday before finally shutting my laptop and giving up for the day. I could not come up with anything to even get me started on it yesterday, and that puts me behind today. Irritating!
Needless to say, happiness is far from me today. Frustration, overwhelm, and fatigue are right here with me having climbed up in my lap and taken up residence, but happiness? Happiness hopped on a train and rode off into the sunset sometime in the past day or so.
Want to hear something funny though? Joy is still here. Joy is still alive and well within me today. Why? Because my joy does not depend on, nor is it affected by my circumstances. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a state of being.
I am going to make a pretty big assumption here that most everyone knows the song “Joyful, Joyful” that the lyrics above are from. I love the description of joy in that song. This is exactly where joy comes from for me. My adoration for the One that created all things and loves with a love that I can never fully understand on this side of eternity produces joy within me. The joy that my adoration for God produces causes my heart to be drawn toward and open up to Him. Each time my heart opens up before God a little more, He fills that space with more joy. It is a beautiful cycle.
Obviously, every day won’t be filled with clear skies and sunshine. We will have days filled with gray skies and thunderclouds. Days where the debris of life makes its way onto our path and leaves us feeling down, irritated, annoyed, angry, sad, lonely, or depressed. These days can leave us feeling ready to give up. I would love nothing more than to go home, climb back into bed, and sleep this annoying day away as if it never existed. But I have things to do today. I don’t have time to let the mud and muck of life control me. And besides, just because today is not a clear skies and sunshine kind of day for me doesn’t mean it can’t still be a good day.
My joy does not live in my circumstances. My joy lives within me. It is always there for me to tap into when I am having a day where I can’t seem to find the sunshine. My joy is the light that shines in my soul. It is God’s light that lives in my heart always available anytime I need it. This light has the power to obliterate the clouds and drive out the darkness when it threatens to take over my life. I need only to reach for it. The problem is remembering and having the strength to reach in and grab hold of the light.
A wise wizard once said, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” I would challenge Albus Dumbledore here to exchange the word happiness for joy.
Opportunity lives in those cloudy, dark days. Those days hold my moments. I get to choose whether or not I will believe the voice that is telling me that I should just give up for the day. I can choose to give up, or I can choose to tap into the secret weapon that lives in my heart.
Joy lives in my heart. Happiness hangs out in my mind with the rest of my feelings. Joy is a constant presence. Happiness is an occasional visitor that comes and goes. Joy will never run out as long as I stay connected to the “Giver of immortal gladness.” He will continue to fill me with His light for as long as I will open up my heart to Him.
If you are in a season right now where you are struggling to see the sunshine, don’t forget about your secret weapon. You know how this story ends. It ends in your triumph. Your joy is not tied to your circumstances. Your joy is tied to the light that conquered fear and death by bursting forth from the grave over 2,000 years ago and now lives in your heart. Scripture tells us exactly where to find not only joy, but abundant joy. Psalm 16:11 says, “...in your presence is abundant joy...” (CSB). Run to your Father. Spend time in His presence and allow Him to fill you with the abundant joy that you seek. It is always there if you “only remember to turn on the light.”