Finding Joy in Your Everyday Life

Many people believe joy is something they’ll experience later—when life settles down or circumstances improve. But Scripture tells a different story. In this article, Joyce Meyer shares how God wants us to enjoy everyday life—not someday, but right in the middle of ordinary moments, routines, and responsibilities.

Finding Joy in Your Everyday Life

John 10:10 has been one of my favorite scriptures for many years. It says: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” (AMPC). This verse clearly shows us that God wants us to enjoy our lives—in abundance, to the full, until we’re overflowing with joy!

I remember when God gave me the revelation that it’s His will for me to enjoy my life. It was life-changing because I used to be a miserable person who was emotionally unstable and couldn’t be happy unless I got my way most of the time. Because of the abuse I had experienced throughout childhood, I was insecure, angry, and didn’t trust anyone. But once I started seriously studying God’s Word, I came to realize that He didn’t want me to live this way. I could be healed and whole in my mind and emotions, and I could learn how to really enjoy my everyday life.

Now, when I say God wanted me to enjoy my everyday life, I’m talking about living an ordinary life with a calm delight and a smile on my face (John 15:11). Enjoying life includes not dreading the normal, daily responsibilities we have to do—things like cleaning the house, doing the dishes, mowing the grass, going to work, and the list goes on.

It seems today that most people believe they have to wait for their circumstances to change before they can enjoy life. We can have a “working for the weekend” mentality that says, “I’ll be happy when Friday gets here … when I get to go on vacation … when the kids are back in school … when I get that promotion.” But the truth is, we can make the decision to enjoy our ordinary life and make it extraordinary, regardless of our circumstances.

One of the ways you can take ordinary life and make it extraordinary is to learn to do every single thing you do with and for God. We make a mistake when we separate our sacred life from our secular life. We can be just as close to God in the grocery store as we are at church. And He wants us to do everything we need to do WITH Him.

It actually adds an edge of excitement when we let God be involved in everything we do. He’s everywhere, all the time, and He’s just as interested in the routine, mundane tasks of our lives as He is in the more “spiritual” things we do.

It’s amazing to realize that God wants to have fellowship with us—He wants to spend each day with us. Don’t just settle for seeking Him once a week at church or when you’re in a desperate situation. Decide that you are going to enjoy your everyday relationship with God!

Abundant Life in Christ

The abundant life Christ offers goes deeper in our hearts than the way we feel about things. It’s amazing when we learn to have the peace and joy only God can give in every area of our lives, rather than the kind of enjoyment based on emotional excitement.

The joy of the Lord is much greater than simply feeling happy. It brings peace and contentment to your soul, even when your circumstances are difficult and don’t make any sense. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

This kind of joy makes the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday routine enjoyable. And since most of life is Monday through Friday, we need to enjoy it!

In John 15:11 (NIV), Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” The Amplified Classic translation says “that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.” In the ten verses leading up to this one, Jesus is talking about abiding in Him, because that’s the key to living with His joy.

Abiding means “to live, dwell and remain in.” It’s having a personal relationship with Christ, getting to know Him through His Word, and talking to Him about anything and everything. It’s doing life together! The truth is that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing of real value, but with Him, we can bear much good fruit (John 15:5).

God wants to abide with you every day, all throughout the day. He doesn’t just want you to seek Him when you go to church or when you’re desperate. His desire is to have a personal relationship with you, so you can experience His presence in everything you do. That’s when your everyday life is really enjoyable!

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