Joy is a choice. Choosing joy means you choose God’s ways instead of your own. 
Choosing joy means you choose to be up when you could be down. You choose to laugh after you’ve had a good cry (I didn’t say you wouldn’t cry). You choose to smile when you want to frown. You choose to bless others instead of curse. You choose to be kind even if it means giving up your right to be right. You choose to trust when you want to doubt. You choose to forgive when you’ve been wronged. You choose to speak kindly before harsh words get a chance to slip off your lips. You choose to let go when you want to hold on. You choose to forget the bad and remember only the good. You choose love instead of bitterness.
The Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Nehemiah 8:10). This strength the Bible is speaking of is that of being in a fortified place, making God our defense, stronghold, and fortress, and leaning on the Rock.
Joy gets its strength from pleasing God and walking in His ways.
Choosing joy is choosing to walk in the Spirit. It takes a surrendered person talk walk in joy because joy is much more selfless than happiness. It is a fruit of the Spirit and grows as we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit. It is able to well up from within regardless of outward conditions. Happiness, on the other hand, can be affected by outward conditions and other folks.
Joy will keep you grounded and balanced.
The pay off and benefit of choosing joy is this: His joy becomes your strength. Through His joy being present and active in your spirit His strength will infuse and cover you through every season and circumstance of live – the times when sheer happiness is present in every part of your life and the times when every outward thing is going wrong and sadness circles you.
Joy’s fruit is edible.
“O’ taste and see that the Lord is good,” Psalm 34:8. Joy is quite yummy and it’s contagious in its outward effects. It can bubble up from within and change the atmosphere around you. Choosing joy is one of the best decisions you can make for your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being and for you relationships and the people around you.
Beloved, my prayer for you is this: that you will choose to allow the joy of the Lord to grow in you and be your strength.
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