RESToring JOY

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

Psalm 51:12 NIV

My Bible art journal, a lit candle, a hot cup of coffee, sweatpants, and being cozied-up on a couch with a purring kitten are amazingly simple things in life that bring me joy and rest. Yet, joy can dissipate easily in the reality of my complicated, chaotic life full of disappointments, unmet expectations, and busyness. Thankfully, both you and I have a God who calls us to simplicity and rest, not complication and chaos.

Joy comes only from the Lord, and it is something we must choose to live in. To live a joy-filled life, rest is an essential, wonderful gift God has given us to use and honor as holy. "Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord." (Exodus 31:15 CSB) Rest restores not only our joy but also our health, our hope, our heart to healing, and most importantly it restores us to Him. Choosing rest, then, is as vital to our Christian walk of faith as sugar is to a cup of bitter coffee--it isn't sweet unless it is added.

One day a week. One out of seven. Twenty-four hours out of 168. Our heavenly Father is calling us to be at rest with Him. He both invites us and requires us to honor rest. He wants to lead us to peaceful waters and to restore us in green pastures (see Psalm 23:2). He is our place of refuge where He offers to fill us with His ever-abundant love and grace. God cares for us so much that He desires our lives to be full of rest, which means to be full of Him and the strength and joy that comes from resting in Him.

Isn't it incredible that we have no difficulty filling our lives with everything but rest? A saying that has always stuck with me is, "If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy." Why? Because even Satan knows about the healing power of rest, and he certainly doesn't want you to experience that kind of power. He wants you to be weary and empty, weakened and vulnerable. Satan can easily take down and devour that kind of vessel. But a vessel full of joy and strength? Nah. That's not a vessel who's vulnerable. That's a powerful and effective vessel.

"Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'" (Matthew 11:28)

Take time to rest in God this week. Set aside 24 hours (1 day) so that the Lord can restore your soul, strengthen your spirit, and fill your heart with complete joy. How do you rest? Simply three ways: don't work, enjoy your life according to God's will, and make time to worship God in that 24 hours of rest.

Here's the thing, in order to sustain joy, you don't have to just wait for one day to rest. You can daily set aside a little bit of time to restore yourself by enjoying the simple things in life and praising your loving Father. Oh, that the Lord may grant us willing spirits to sustain the joy that He gives! Life isn't meant to be busy. It's meant to be beautiful. And it's meant to be enjoyed every day.

Prayer: "Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had!" Lamentations 5:21 NLT