Day 7 of Finding Joy in the Journey
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
We revisit God and His joy and gladness over us:
From the Joyful Journey book:
God is always glad to be with us. He treats our weaknesses tenderly. He actively works for our good. In other words, God is benevolently present with us. If our perception of God's character is distorted due to our own experiences of life's disappointments and our own histories of trauma, then having an all-seeing and always-present God could be stifling and produce fear instead of love and trust…To emphasize the importance of our awareness that He is relationally present with us, we will use the term “Immanuel sight” (iSight). iSight is having the recognition that God is present, is truly good and perseveres in doing good for us.
~ page 10, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow
Session A: Focus on joyful memories or drift back and celebrate moments of appreciation. Note how your body feels as you visit these memories: Can you catch yourself smiling, laughing? Are you relaxing?
Journal Prompt:
Joyful memories related to food:
Key Words:
[God thought] I am the Lord your God. I am in your midst, mighty and able to keep you safe; I rejoice over you with gladness; I will quiet you with My love; I will exult over you with loud singing.
Afternoon Session
Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Some folk equate pain and suffering with God’s displeasure. This can result in a weakened faith and trust in God:
From the Joyful Journey book:
If we have experienced a lot of pain or difficulties in our closest relationships, it usually shows up in the lack of close bonds we feel with people and ultimately with God. Some of us may find our iSight weak or poor and being in need of correction for this very reason. This might help us to understand why many Christians maintain a life of survival instead of thriving. The abundant, thriving life with God is fully experienced when we have true iSight.... No matter where our iSight may currently be, God can meet us there.
~ page 10, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow
Session B: Remember, you can share your joy stories with others for your 5 minutes. It builds community and spreads the joy
Journal Prompt:
Joyful memories involving animals:
Key Words:
Listen to Me: I take pleasure in My people;
You bring Me pleasure by your very existence!
Stay humble and watch Me beautify you with salvation.
Evening Session
Session C: Before your official 5-minute window, take a moment to focus on gratitude. Dwell on a thing or person you appreciate. I appreciate the joyful memory of my daughter’s baptism which happened in a worship service on Christmas day in a barn with animals around. Ask me about it some day. Move into your joyful memories time; then finish with worship joy toward God.
I give everyone and everything to You God;
I give everyone and everything to You.
Journal Prompt:
Joyful memories related to music or the arts:
Key Words:
Psalm 32:11
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Prayer
Jesus, I am glad to be connected to You as the Lord,
and I rejoice that You have made me righteous by Your loving sacrifice. To quote a song lyric, I will “rejoice in the Lord always – and again I say ‘rejoice,’”
I love to see you finding gladness in Me as Your Lord and rejoicing that I have made you righteous!
I celebrate your joy – whether in shouts or songs or simple silence. Thanks for sharing time like this with Me.
Bonus Learning Moment
We are introducing these five thoughts envisioned from God’s perspective.
- I SEE YOU,
- I HEAR YOU,
- I UNDERSTAND YOU,
- I AM WITH YOU;
- I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION (what you are going through).
See how many you can identify in God’s conversation with Moses in Exodus 3:7-10:
Exodus 3:7-10
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Journal Prompt:
Golden Moments -- anchor memories about God's love for you:
• I SEE YOU,
• I HEAR YOU,
• I UNDERSTAND YOU,
• I AM WITH YOU;
• I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION (what you are going through).