Finding Joy In The Mundane
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84:1-2
It seems that about 90% of life is lived in the mundane. Every morning we wake up, guzzle our coffee, commute to work, and enter the exciting world of cubicle-land. We change diaper after gag-inducing diaper. We create the same exciting spreadsheet every month, and have the same adrenaline-rush office meetings every week. We do load after mountainous load of laundry. We go to the same class every day, and write the same monotonous papers each weekend. It never ends, never changes. And frankly, it can bore the sanity out of us. But more seriously, it can steal our joy.
Do you lack joy in the day to day routines? I confess, I’ve been there many times before. But how do we find joy in the things that are so insanely boring? How do I find joy in changing my daughter’s diaper, which happens to be loaded with a fragrant mixture of sweet potatoes and carrots? Here’s a couple of thoughts.
The Grass Isn’t Greener
One of our greatest temptations is to believe that a change of circumstances would make us happy. If only I had a more exciting job. If only I could get out of the house more. If only I could just get a few minutes of relaxation. Then I’d be happy.
But the truth is, we wouldn’t happier if the circumstances changed. Why? Because our sinful hearts will always find something else to be discontent about. Have you ever noticed that when you finally get what you so desperately wanted, it doesn’t pay off like you thought it would? Our hearts are restless and discontent. We don’t need a change in circumstances, we need a change in heart.
Go To The God of Joy
Where is joy found? According to Psalm 84, it’s found in the place that God dwells. If we want to be filled with joy, we must spend time where God dwells. The starting place for a joyful heart is time spent in the word of God and in prayer. God speaks to us, encourages us, and builds our faith when we read the Bible. And the glorious thing is that he also responds to our prayers. So cry out to God for joy! Say to him, Lord my heart is cold and joyless right now. Please give me abundant joy in you.
God loves to answer prayers for joy. He wants you to be a joyful Christian. Why? Because nothing makes God look worse than a joyless Christian. Joyless Christians say with their faces that God is boring and unsatisfying. That’s why it’s crucial that we fight for our joy.
Be Thankful
Thankfulness propels us toward joy. So be intentional about thanking God for the astonishing blessings that he’s poured out upon you. Start with the glorious gospel. Once you were an enemy of God, now he’s your friend. Once you were guilty and destined for hell, now you’re counted righteous and headed for heaven. The gospel alone should be enough to fill our hearts with joy. But there’s so much more! Families, jobs, churches, friends, hobbies, food, health - all these should fill our hearts with gratitude. Thankfulness fills us with joy.
photo by Tub Gurnard
Posted in Joy
April 9th, 2008 at 7:20 am
In baseball lingo, this post is “right in my wheelhouse.” I actually prayed this morning, before getting out of bed, that I would be filled with the joy of the Lord today. Stephen, you nailed me with this post. The mundane tasks of everyday life can so easily steal our joy. I realized this as I lay in bed looking at my wife, who is expecting our 2nd child. I have let life’s tasks steal the excitement and joy that I should be having in this time. And I come up with excuses about “when it will be better.” The Truth is that my circumstances don’t need to change, only my “knowledge of God” (to quote J.I. Packer). Thanks, as always, for writing and encouraging us all.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Tree Newt - Glad this post was helpful. It really is amazing how quickly we can lose our joy in God if we don’t fight for it. Have you read Piper’s book “When I Don’t Desire God”? It’s an excellent resource for times like this…
April 9th, 2008 at 8:23 am
What a great post. I needed to be reminded of this on a mundane morning.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Perfect timing with this one.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Just this morning my teenage daughter said, “I’m depressed. Every day is exactly the same.” Her little brother replied, “Well, when you die it’ll be different.” I thought this post would be much more of an encouragement to her, so I just emailed it to her. It was wonderfully encouraging to me, too. I’m very prone to “the grass is always greener” mentality. Thanks for posting it.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Becca - Glad the post was helpful.
Marge - I hope this post encourages your daughter. I’m glad it encouraged you as well!