Do you remember the children’s song about joy? It went like this, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart….Where?....Down in my heart….Where? Down in my heart.”

Whether this is your first time reading these lyrics or it’s your 100th and now the song is stuck in your head (you’re welcome), most of us could probably agree that at some point this year we felt like the echo in this song. Searching, looking desperately and longingly for joy.

When you think of joy what typically comes to mind? For those of us at Zoe, our first thoughts run to experiences: Moments where we were able to help a client find purpose and strength on their journey; seeing parents feel empowered to be the leader in their child’s life they longed to be; the look on a mother’s face when she was able to gather clothes and formula for her child.

Maybe for you the word joy sparks a time in your life when you felt safe and loved. Joy is most definitely felt and seen in these treasured memories but this is not the full extent of joy, and what wonderful news that is for us!

Here at Zoe with all of the changing, stretching, and adapting we have all had to do, we were positioned to see joy in a whole new light. Joy is not based on feelings that come and go because joy has the ability to be consistent.

Now, if joy is just based on our happiness then it cannot be consistent. We all know what it’s like to feel happy at the start of the day and one text later our whole day feels flushed down the toilet. We love the saying, “We can be unhappy but we can never be unjoy”.

So, what does that mean for us? What is joy based off of if it’s not just when life is butterflies and rainbows? Great question friend! Joy doesn’t come and go, because God’s love for us is steadfast and our joy is the recognition of His love and grace in every situation. Joy is grace recognized.

That doesn’t mean we deny the problems we face like they aren’t there. It doesn’t mean we ignore grief or pretend like our world hasn’t been turned upside down. Joy is knowing you are secure in God’s love in the midst of the storm, it’s feeling pain and knowing that He, God our Father, weeps with you.

Joy is the acknowledgement, the recognition of the Father in the midst of whatever we face. Oh, and we forgot to mention, even if you choose not to, or fail to, recognize Him, He is ALWAYS with you.

There can never be “unjoy” in your life because the Father, God, will never, ever, ever, ever leave you. That’s a promise, not from us, but from Him. Joy is always there, you only need to turn to Him to recognize and grab hold of it.