JOY

Isaiah 60:4-5
    "Look and see, for everyone is coming home! Your sons are coming from distant lands; your little daughters will be carried home.
     Your eyes will shine and you heart will thrill with joy..."


-- JOY --
It's not about happiness.

What?? So, if I'm happy, then I'm not joyful? Or if I'm joyful, then I'm not happy? 
...Let's keep reading.

The word "joy" does not necessarily equal the word "happy".
Joy is about what is fulfilling.

Hmm....okay. Keep it coming.


We, as the beautiful human beings that we are, feel empty. And we try to fill our lives with friends, family, music, computers, phones....the list is endless!
But in the end we still walk away with the same feelings. We walk away with that void, that space, that gaping hole.
It's still there.
And we've created this cycle of moving from one thing to the next, trying to fill that gaping hole.
Eventually, the things we try to fill our lives with may turn into addictions.
And this is where people REALLY get into trouble. They have only made the hole they are trying to fill deeper.
They've become trapped.

So, we come to the question, "How do I get out of this? Is there an escape??"

"A foolish man falls into a hole once, but a wise man falls into the hole twenty times."


Uhh...I don't understand. What does that mean?


The foolish man only falls into the hole once because he doesn't have the will or want to get out. He just sits there, and lets himself remain trapped.

The wise man continuously falls into the hole because he doesn't want to remain trapped. He will push and persevere and try with all his might to get out.
And with God's help, he can do that.

If we run with God, He will guide us along the correct path that avoids the holes we fall in.

Everyone makes mistakes. That's just a part of being human.
But it's what you do once you've fallen that defines who you are.

Are you going to stay trapped in your own sin?
or
Are you going to reach for the hand of God to help pull you back up?
Will you let God be your JOY and fill that gaping hole?