What Is the Joy of the Lord? (Plus, 6 Ways to Have It)
What is the joy of the Lord? The joy of the Lord is a deep sense of peace that isn’t contingent upon circumstances. This peace is found in God’s presence. It trusts in God’s promises and rests on his faithfulness. It offers hope in hardships and eternal perspective in temporal struggles.
Today, we’ll explore the question, “What is the joy of the Lord?” by looking at practical ways to cultivate God’s joy.
Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you experience more joy in Jesus.
I invite you to join me in the woods as I cultivated joy recently.
What Is the Joy of the Lord?
I jogged through the vernal forest this morning. The tiny leaves offered a partial canopy overhead—not the deep emerald of summer, but the just-born chartreuse leaflets of springtime. The experience washed over me like a reminder of how to have the joy of the Lord embedded in my heart.
Cold rain pattered on the forest floor and beaded on my forehead, and I considered the joy I find in a green forest on a rainy day.
I also started thinking about cultivating rhythms for joy in my life, and I was reminded of a blog post I wrote a few years ago.
After returning home, I found these words and reminded myself to keep applying them to my life. If you could use more joy, I pray these words bless you richly.
What is the joy of the Lord, and how do we experience it?
1. We cultivate joy by resting with God.
Nehemiah 8:10 reads, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
I find it captivating that this verse doesn’t read, “The joy of the Lord is my joy.”
Throughout the past decade, I’ve asked God to help me apply these words to my life, and he has led me to a simple method of learning to find strength and joy in his presence. Every morning, I go to a quiet place and spend a few minutes looking out the window while imagining God’s arms around me and a beaming smile on his face.
I sometimes think of my children and the joy I find when they cuddle on my lap. I love being with them in these quiet moments of connection.
In the same way, God loves spending time with us. He smiles upon us when we set aside time to enjoy his presence. When we learn to rest in his loving embrace, his joy fills us with strength. His joy is also contagious. As he fills us with joy, we find the strength we need to face even the greatest obstacles in our days.
2. We cultivate joy when we stop trying to be perfect.
I’ve also learned that I find more joy when I don’t expect perfection in any area of my life. This includes releasing myself from the internal desire to perform perfectly, and it includes releasing others from these expectations, too.
A few months ago, I read Psalm 46:10 in the Hebrew translation from the Jewish Publication Society’s Bible. A more accurate translation of this familiar abjuration, “be still and know that I am God,” is, “let be and know that I am God.”
What do you need to let be in your life? What would it look like to stop pursuing perfection and settle for giving the best effort you can give at the moment?
3. We cultivate joy by taking ourselves less seriously.
One of the great lessons of my motherhood journey has been the importance of taking myself less seriously.
Instead of yelling over the messes or the plans that unravel in my home, I am learning to laugh.
I’m learning to hold my plans more loosely, and I’m failing as often as I’m finding victory, but I’m smiling about this too. I’m a work in progress.
Most of us could use more playfulness in our lives. We could stand to take ourselves less seriously. To laugh over the annoying habits of our loved ones instead of rehearsing speeches. (Read about the day my young daughter taught me what to say instead of speaking angry words here.)
4. We increase joy by learning to thank our bodies for their efforts.
Do you ever experience a loss of joy because you feel frustrated with your body? Maybe you deal with self-critical thoughts or are stuck in a cycle of emotional eating. You might be frustrated because your body can no longer function on minimal sleep or perform to the standards you expected from yourself when you were younger.
What if we stopped embracing critical thoughts about our bodies and asked God to help us see ourselves the way he sees us?
God calls our bodies beautiful, and he cherishes us.
Our bodies have served us well.
They have worked long hours, carried us over thousands of miles, and held us up under pressure. What if we were a little gentler with our bodies—offering more grace and less criticism—treating our bodies like our precious friends?
Maybe we’d learn about balance.
Perhaps we’d exercise more, or maybe we’d exercise less. Maybe we’d get in step with how God wants us to treat our bodies. Just maybe.
5. We expand our capacity for joy by prioritizing kindness over being right.
As I learn to cultivate joy, I am learning to lay down all defensiveness.
The greatest gift I can offer others is a gentle answer—a smile and a playful wave of the hand when making light of a situation is more beneficial than speaking a harsh word.
This kind of living frees me from striving and always brings greater peace and joy.
The greatest gift I can offer others is a gentle answer—a smile and a playful wave of the hand when making light of a situation is more beneficial than speaking a harsh word. #joy Share on X6. We increase our capacity for joy by relinquishing our desires for power and control.
When I’m brutally honest about the times I lose my patience or come unglued in some other way, it’s usually because someone isn’t conforming to my ideas about how our day is supposed to go.
I snap because I want power and control.
Somebody asks me about screen time for the tenth time of the morning.
My quiet time is interrupted by a sibling squabble.
Someone spills an entire bowl of cereal and milk on a clean bedspread.
I snap not because of the accident, but because of the work I must now do to clean it, which is an interruption to what I was doing.
As I aim to cultivate deeper joy, I’m learning that a sense of losing control of my plans is always an invitation to practice keeping control of my emotions. I was never the One in control anyway. Every interruption is one more opportunity to return to the Lord in surrender.
~~~
I hope these insights have helped you answer the question, “What is the joy of the Lord?” If this post encouraged you, I invite you to explore my library of devotional books and eBooks below. Be blessed as you pursue the joy of the Lord!
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here! 
