Choosing Joy

February 2026

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One of the most difficult choices to make can be choosing joy when life becomes unstable and unpredictable. Yet, the   believer whose faith has endured decades of disappointments and          setbacks has learned to guard his or her mind from the dark recesses of despair when things get  really tough.

The prophet Jeremiah acknowledged the depths of his     sorrow as he witnessed the sacking of Jerusalem, his beloved city. He did not pretend he was not grieving – “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.” (Lam 3:17 ESV) But he knew the answer to his             depression was in YAHWEH and pushed his thoughts to  respond: “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” (vs. 21-23 ESV) In verse 24 he tells himself: “YAHWEH is my inheritance, therefore, I will hope in Him!” (NLT)

When faced with circumstances or people who disappoint you, take charge of your thoughts and direct them to the Lord, Who rules over every part of His creation.

Max Lucado, in his book, Tame Your Thoughts (Thomas Nelson, 2025), tells of author Thomas Carlyle, a well-known Scottish writer who lived in the eighteenth century. When he loaned the only copy of the manuscript to his now-famous book The French Revolution to a friend, the friend’s maid used the pages of the manuscript to start a fire in the fireplace.

News of the mishap sent Carlyle into a mental and emotional spiral, leaving his moods swinging between rage and sorrow. He was looking out his window one day,   watching a group of bricklayers at work, and relates, “It came to me, that, as they lay brick on brick so I could still lay word on word, sentence on sentence.” He began again – and the result is the book we have today.

 The joy of the Lord may take time to find; it may be difficult to discover, but it is always, in every situation, an option available to us!