“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18
Your circumstances can’t affect the joy you can experience.
Things are rough right now for many people. Whether it be death of a loved one, financial downfall, marriage issues, troubled children, friendship division, racial tension, or our future hopes going down the drain, most of us have something that is causing pain and confusion. But even in the darkest night or the dreariest day, we can still experience joy.
Joy doesn’t derive from our circumstance, joy comes from the Lord.
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalm 16:11
Every day as we wake, we have to Choose joy. No matter what, God’s mercies are new every morning, so what happened yesterday has been washed away. And even in our darkest days, we have the opportunity to experience the greatest joy in His presence. Sure, we can choose joy in the morning, we can be resting in God throughout the day, but then in moments, minutes, hours of the day, our joy can turn into mourning, into hurting, into yearning. Yet, in those times, when our joy is being stolen away, we can go back to His presence and be filled with joy again.
I can honestly say, I have experienced wonderful joy over the years, but I’ve also experienced days of pure darkness.
Darkness came when I was trying to change my circumstance instead of resting in God’s presence. I was trying to claim happiness by seeking fun instead of choosing joy by seeking God. Happiness, you see, is like a roller coaster that thrills and chills causing excitement and anxiety; yet, joy overflowing comes as you draw close to God, allowing only His Presence to fill your deepest needs and His path to lead you into the way everlasting.
In the present days, even when things seem dim, when I look out the window and see all the problems around me, I’m Choosing Joy.
It takes an intentionality daily of not focusing on the world and instead resting in the Lord. It’s turning off the notifications on your phone and noticing the gift of creation in the Fresh Air outside. It’s only checking your texts and messages a few times a day, and checking in with your spouse, your children, or encouraging a friend that you haven’t spoken with in a long time. It’s turning down the noise of negative news, TV shows, movies, and turning up truth through prayer, books, podcasts, Worship music and the Bible. It’s choosing to give your time to things that matter and not let your time be taken by things that don’t.
Joy is a choice that is given freely by the Lord, but we must rest in his presence to experience it because the world will try to steal it away.
Running 2 Fly 
I believe there is a multitude of ‘worship’ music written by the great composers of our western culture ; Bach,Mozart ,Beethoven, Wagner , Debussy, Mahler ,Brahms , Barber , etc. Many people consider the music of Argo Part , Gorecki , —-both still are alive and writing profoundly moving religious and spiritual major works . Not the contemporary worship music which many people refer to as ‘ seven words repeated eleven times ‘! There are many types of religious musical expressions. Our ability to understand often is related to cultural factors ,educational experience, etc.
thankfully , there is an unlimited fount of music for the inner life !
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