It's a symptom.

I'm thinking about joy tonight.

I must've seen four or five random bumper stickers, doodles, or instagram pictures today that have said "choose joy" or something really similar.

I'm about to step outside this catch phrase that we hear so often.

Because in thinking about joy, I'm thinking that the times I've been the most joyful... it hasn't been because I've made a choice.

It has been against my will.

People say that love is a choice. I'm confident that's true. I suppose joy can be a choice in the same way. I choose joy over self-pity. I choose happiness over sullenness. I choose delight over disdain. I choose gratitude over complaining.

Yes. Sometimes joy is a choice.

But for me, joy has more often been a symptom.

This is the kind of joy that makes the stranger in Target smile a big smile and comment on my (I-didn't-know-it-was-that-loud) singing of Christmas songs. It's the kind of joy that makes me truly care about how the barista's afternoon is going. This sweet joy oozes and bubbles over. It's real. It's genuine.

It's part of me.

It's the joy that remains when I have a difficult day with the kids, when I've been mistreated, when I don't agree.

Joy is a symptom of the heart.

It's like when a baby laughs and her whole face carries the joke- as if she doesn't know what else to do with her smile. It HAS TO erupt through her face because her heart is laughing.

That kind of joy doesn't come easily. and I don't think it's always as simple as a choice.

I think it comes with hard work spent devoting a heart in submission to Jesus. It comes with the discipline of waking up each morning and handing over a selfish life to a Father who desires selflessness. Joy is a symptom. It's a symptom of an overflowing heart that walks in deep intimacy with the Creator.

I am carrying joy so deeply tonight. I love this. The taste of the smile on my lips. My heart leaps.

Oh, Jesus, thank You.

Joy comes from a heart that is directed toward Heaven and not earth.

A heart that seeks out His rich beauty for us each day.

Joy can be a choice.

But I sure do love the joy that's a symptom of a heart that's full of Jesus.

What do you think? Do you agree?

Love to you,
Alyssa