Counselor's Corner: How to Rejoice and Be Glad Everyday

I don’t know if you are like me but some days I do not feel like rejoicing and being glad. There are times in my life that I allow my circumstances to determine if I’m going to be glad and rejoice that day.

If we are all honest it can be challenging to be glad and rejoice when problems mount, circumstances go unchanged, and situations arise that could disrupt the joy we are having.

The psalmist wrote, “This is the day which the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” Psalm 118:24  

We often postpone our rejoicing until our circumstances are perfect, but God wants us to rejoice and be glad today not when ________________ happens. My circumstances in life are tough, and they have been that way for many years. In my family we have dealt with a prodigal child, infertility, alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, unsaved loved ones, domestic violence, mental instability, multiple family members continually needing money, and this just scratches the surface. I had a difficult time rejoicing and being glad everyday when there were somedays, I did not even want to get out of bed. Circumstances overwhelmed me and threatened to destroy any enjoyment that I could have.

What I am learning is that if we wait to rejoice and be glad when all of our circumstances are perfect, we will miss the blessings of the day. Even during our most trying times in life, there is always something that should cause us to be glad and rejoice; it may be simple things in our life like seeing a butterfly.

If you believe you will finally be glad when God does something specific for you, rest assured it won’t take long before you are needing God to do something else again in order to be glad. When we learn to be glad and rejoice during the triumphs and trials of life, we can then stay steady and stable during the turbulent times and still find the treasures of life during the trials. You can waste your entire life waiting to be glad and to rejoice, waiting for that prodigal to come home, waiting for your unsaved loved one to finally surrender, or you can wait with gladness in your heart that God will cause all to work together for your good (Romans 8:28).

Jesus said, “The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you may enjoy life and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows) John 10:10.

We can waste a lot of time believing that enjoying life comes from our circumstances. No one enjoys pain and troubles, but if you view those circumstances in a hopeful and faith-filled way, we can see God work out those situations for our good.

Enjoying your life begins with your thoughts. The battlefield for experiencing gladness and enjoyment of life is in the mind. The enemy will bombard your thoughts with “woe is me” thoughts, and if you entertain those thoughts you certainly will not be glad, rejoice, or enjoy life.

You will need to consciously choose gladness and rejoicing. Your thoughts are connected to your feelings. Check the source of why you feel the way that you do by asking yourself, “What have I been thinking about?”