I Am Joyful
My most recent journey into joy begins with a sad story.
My husband of less than 2 years passed away almost 3 months ago. My life was flipped on its head, leaving me a 30-year-old widow. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. My life wasn’t supposed to go this way. We didn’t get to do all that we had planned and dreamed together.
With everything shattered in an instant, I could have easily begun to view life in a tainted way, through a dull lens of pain. But I got to see who I was to the core, and that I was firmly planted in my relationship with my Father. Honestly, I can say that I wasn’t broken.
We always say we will do this or that if we go through a tragedy, but few ever get to see how they actually handle it. I got to see first-hand how God held me and not only comforted me and gave me peace, but His grace gave me more. I found joy that was there in this season. I can be joyful despite the circumstances in my life. I can say that this has added to my life, rather than taken away.
I am 1 of 5 sisters and growing up our dad claimed something we each added to his life. I was my dad’s “strength”. I never knew that word by more than the definition of not being weak. But I’ve learned that it is so much more. I am able to be strong because of joy, and because of who I am in my Heavenly Father. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength”, and that joy is found on the road to restoration and wholeness in knowing who our Savior is. Realizing this, I understand that my strength is in direct proportion to my joy. When we don’t have joy, we don’t have strength. Living a joy-filled life is evident in the way that it sets us apart and we are drawn to joy-filled people. John 15:10-12 says, “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." We are living as the Father and filled with His fruit in our lives.
I always felt like joy was something you strived for, but I learned that it is a characteristic of the Father, and a fruit of the spirit. The joy of the Lord is my strength. I’ve lived that. That’s the life I choose to live in. Not the brokenness of what could have been, but the joy in claiming the redemption of my testimony! The joy I choose. The Heavenly Father I strive to be like is what defines me. I am His love; therefore, I have joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!
Even in the bleakest of situations where there seems to be no hope, we have to will ourselves to joy. We choose to have joy, like Habakkuk did in Habakkuk 3:17-18, “Even if the fig tree does not blossom, And there is no fruit on the vines, If the yield of the olive fails, And the fields produce no food, Even if the flock disappears from the fold, And there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” That’s where I’ve chosen to live my life, choosing to rejoice in the Lord – in the goodness of God.
I recently read this quote by Rick Warren and he gave this definition of joy: “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.” No matter your situation or circumstance in this season or in life in general, make the determined choice to praise God in every situation. Be like the Father and remember who you are in Him. You are so loved and worthy of joy!
So, yes, I am a 31-year-old widow now, but I’m so much more than that because of what my Father has put into me. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
~ Mallory Aarhus