Choosing Joy Daily Even When You Are Down and Don’t Want To
Some mornings I wake up ready to conquer the day. Other mornings I wake up feeling like I got run over by my own thoughts. Nothing dramatic happened. No big crisis. Just a heavy spirit and a tired soul. If I am honest, those are the days when choosing joy feels less like a fruit of the Spirit and more like trying to start a motorcycle with a dead battery.
Scripture never tells us joy is automatic. It tells us joy is chosen.
James writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” He does not say feel joy. He says count it. That is a decision. That is faith talking louder than feelings.
There are days I do not feel joyful at all. I feel discouraged. I feel unseen. I feel like I am giving more than I am getting. Leadership can do that. Walking by faith can do that. You keep pouring and sometimes the cup feels empty. But joy is not tied to the condition of the cup. Joy is tied to the Source that fills it.
I think of joy like showing up to work when you do not feel like it. You still put your boots on. You still turn the key. You still do what is in front of you because responsibility does not disappear just because motivation does. Faith works the same way. Joy is obedience before it is emotion.
Nehemiah told the people, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Not your circumstances. Not your comfort. Not your results. The joy of the Lord. That tells me joy fuels strength, not the other way around. We do not wait until we feel strong to be joyful. We choose joy and strength follows.
There have been seasons in my life where I smiled on the outside and wrestled on the inside. I would pray and tell God the truth. Lord, I do not feel joyful today. I do not want to choose it. But I trust You more than I trust my emotions. That kind of prayer is not pretty, but it is honest. And God honors honest faith.
Jesus Himself modeled this. Hebrews tells us that for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Not joy in the pain, but joy beyond it. Joy anchored in purpose. When I remember that, my perspective shifts. This hard day is not the end of the story. This heavy moment is not wasted. God is doing something even when I cannot see it.
Choosing joy daily is an act of leadership. People are watching whether we let hardship harden us or shape us. Whether we complain or trust. Whether we quit or keep walking. Joy does not mean pretending everything is fine. It means believing God is still good even when everything is not.
Some days joy looks like gratitude. Some days it looks like obedience. Some days it looks like getting out of bed and saying, Lord, I am still here. Use me anyway.
If you are down today and joy feels out of reach, start small. Thank God for one thing. Open the Word even when it feels dry. Serve someone even when you feel empty. Joy often shows up after we take the step, not before.
So here is the question I am asking myself, and maybe you need to ask it too. What would change today if I chose joy not because I feel like it, but because I trust God enough to do it anyway