You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
– Psalms 4:7‭-‬8 (English Standard Version)

God is all you need. He has all the joy you need. When you are filled with His joy that doesn’t depend on all of the other stuff, then you are really alive.

I am not there yet. Right now, current circumstances are overriding my ability to fully receive His joy and ultimately all of His peace. I understand the spiritual truth here, but I am not fully grasping it at this time. It is a process.

David got it so I will read on in the Psalms until I get it.

I continued praying, asking God how I could receive His peace and joy and He told me this:

Care more about me than yourself. Worry about honoring and loving me more than your “rights” and “needs.”

Then these verses immediately came to mind in the Book of Matthew:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Matthew 6:25‭-‬26 (ESV)

And

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:30‭-‬33 (ESV)

Fear and anxiety are hindering me. I need to take those thoughts captive and rebuke them, and then receive the joy and peace available from God.

– Jason