Overcoming the Joy Stealers
January 6, 2016
Sunday, Brett kicked off our latest series entitled “Journey to Joy”. In this 8 week series we will cover the book of Philippians. If you missed the first message you can watch below or at one of the rebroadcasts.
To start off the series, Brett talked about the 4 joy stealers: circumstances, people, things, and worry.
Do you identify with any of these joy stealers? Do you allow circumstances, people, things or worry to steal the joy you feel in your life? If so, why?
The great news is that we don’t have to let these steal our joy. In fact, in Philippians 4:6-7 Paul writes this,“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Questions to Ponder:
- What does Paul encourage us to do when you are anxious?
- How do you think presenting your requests (i.e. your stress or anxiety) to God will help you?
No matter how hard we try there will always be joy stealers out there. Circumstances will arise that throw us for a loop. People will do “people” things that hurt us. Things are stuff that stress us out and rob us of joy. And when we worry we lose focus on the goodness of God. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When we present our requests to God, He can AND will help us, if we let Him.
So today, instead of letting these 4 steal the joy in your life, try laying them before God and see how He helps.