Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation. Ps. 85:6–7
Gracious Father, I begin my day thankful for the honesty and candor of the Bible. We’ll never go through anything, this side of the new heaven and new earth, not anticipated and reflected in the storehouse of your Word. Today I’m thinking about my need for refreshment and the renewal of my joy. It’s not that I’m in a melancholic funk or fear I’m heading for a “dark night of the soul.” I just feel kind of emotionally flat and spiritually tired. I readily join the chorus of many who cry, “Revive us again.”
When I hear the apostle Paul ask believers in Galatia, “What has happened to all your joy?” (Gal. 4:15), I’m not sure how to answer. Have I fallen back into performance-based living? Have I foolishly given people power over my heart, yet again? Too little Sabbath and sleep? Am I hoarding certain hurts and wounds, ashamed and unwilling to bring them to you?
Perhaps I’m angry at you and don’t want to admit it—resentful that you’re asking more of me than I want to give? Maybe I’m simply refusing to accept normal changes and transitions of life. I’m not sure when my heart began to leak joy, but I don’t want to get used to this condition and I don’t want to get stuck in the paralysis of analysis. Show me, Lord, and set my heart free. Grant me repentance and grant me refreshment.
Since your joy is our strength, Father (Neh. 8:10), cause my heart muscle to beat afresh with your gladness and delight—the felicity which fills the courts of heaven. Holy Spirit, joy is one of the fruits you grow in the lives of the God’s people. Please weed, prune, and fertilize my heart for a fresh crop.
Lord Jesus, since you’re praying we’ll experience the fullness of your joy (John 17:13), I’ll wait with anticipation and hope, for your prayers never fail. Fill me afresh with the inexpressible and glorious joy of the salvation you’ve won for us (1 Pet. 1:8–9). Only your unfailing love is sufficient for my ever-needy heart. So very Amen I pray, in your trustworthy and triumphant name. Amen.
