Joy Stealer

Do you have any of those?  Joy stealers, I mean.  For me, it's feeling the displeasure of others. 
I can be singing in my heart, noticing the blue of the sky and the puff of the clouds, looking to the bright side of life.  And then . . . someone expresses their displeasure with me.  Maybe it's earned . . . maybe it's not.
And my joy is stolen away.  I can feel it leave.  I can feel it leave me flat.  And then, if I'm not careful, I can feel its absence begin to draw me down . . . down . . . down.  Negative thoughts, hopeless feelings.
I bet you have your joy stealers too.
I found myself in this mode yesterday.  Flat . . . and then . . . beginning . . . to go down.
And then I remembered:
God is not displeased with me.
There's nothing I can do to mess up with Him.  Because His Son already lived perfectly before His Father and He's given that gift to me.
When I look in His face, I don't find disappointment, or frustration or disgust.  I find, instead, acceptance, and love and enjoyment.  Because Jesus has already paid for anything I've done that's disappointing or frustrating or even, perish the thought, disgusting.
And it came back.  Joy, I mean.
I could feel it buoy back up inside of me.  No one could steal that joy.
Because my joy doesn't depend on any person or any person's approval.

And so, when I found this little snippet later, "In him my heart rejoices!"  I could lift my hands in the air in glad agreement.
No one can steal my joy.  I have a source that can't be pillaged.

photos courtesy of tinywhitedaisies