Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Psalm 98:4 Sometimes you have to shout in worship, even when your heart is aching. It's not a hypocritical thing—regardless of how things look or feel—to step out of your zone to praise and worship God and reinforce how faithful He is. It goes way beyond an exuberant moment. It's a declaration of confidence in Him. God is wonderful! His promises are true. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)! That’s why the enemy is trying to steal your joy. Joy in the Lord is different from just excitement and happiness. "Happiness" is a result of what happens. "Joy" is a result of what happens in Christ, which is constant and permanent and aimed toward you.

God is near the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). He answers prayer (Jeremiah 33:3). He's good. He'll never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). I'm not making any of this up. The last thing I want to do is spout off a cute Hallmark moment here. No, these are real biblical truths in proper context. God's promises are true concerning your life!

I want to encourage you that the Lord has more than enough grace, healing, forgiveness, guidance, help, and hope to see every one of us through whatever we are facing (Ephesians 3:20). And if you are doing really good? Praise God for that: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1 Praise God!
Pastor Jeff



© 2007 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.