Be Joyful Always

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
According to www.biblegateway.com the NIV version of the Bible has 244 instances where joy is mentioned in some form.
The definition:
A condition of supreme well-being and good spirits.
1. To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.
2. To enjoy.
I think we all know what joy is but how do we you apply it in all circumstances?
How does the widow who just lost her husband in long battle with cancer? Where does she find joy?
How does a young family trying to have their first child after 2 miscarriages already and in danger of loosing the third? Where is their joy?
How does the mother with three children, homeless, hungry with no place to stay on a cold winter night, where does she find joy?
The husband who was told today he is no longer needed at his job. He has to bring that news home to his wife and children. Where is his joy?
Where does the prisoner, imprisoned for 28 years for a rape he said he did not commit. Now, with DNA evidence he is set free, because he did not do it. Where does he find joy?
When our joy is in the Lord, it cannot be taken away or stolen because He is eternal and what He promises to do He does. (John 16:22, 33) The Lord wants our Joy to be full and eternal.The key is for us to look to Christ, not to our situation, and declare our circumstances as joy.This does not mean to give up and do nothing; it means to refocus our energies into productivity and faith—not questions and bitterness. It is to have our convictions and fulfillment in Christ, not circumstances.
I asked my 6 year old grandson what is joy? He said "it is when you are really happy" Where does he see it? He said "he sees it everywhere he sees God"
In my earlier examples of circumstances and where is their joy?
Joy is not in the circumstances it is in Christ, so the people you come in contact with.
The woman who lost her husband, the family with 2 miscarriages, the homeless mother, the husband who lost his job, to the prisoner.
The joy they have is in Christ, Christ is in you,,,,so if they are to receive Christ and encounter that message of joy it is only through you that the message of Joy will be delivered. Reach out your hand!

Out of the mouth of a 6 year old boy named Christian