Active Joy
- Susan Pryde
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
The Task I Was Given
JUN 02, 2025
Not too long ago, in my early morning dates with God, I asked Him what He had for me today, as I always do. The simple answer was,” joy”. I thought, cool! I love joy, I love being joyful, I’m on it! Joy is a good thing to focus on, even when life is hard. Joy can bring me back to center when I get bitter, angry, resentful, or sad. If I pray for joy, He will show it to me, often in quite simple ways, a bird chirping, a nice breeze, a beautiful sunset. Often, it will come in the form of a kind word, a really good hug, the love of family and my grand-babies either near or far.
At the time of this task of joy, God gave me I thought it was just for the day, but I see more and more that it is a task for life. Today, when I asked Him again, I was led to a chapter in one of my devotionals that my niece gave to me called “Love, Joy, and Peace” a World Girls Collective Devotional written by Kathy Carlton Willis. The chapter is called “I Will Joy” by Robin Steinweg. This new take on joy was the act of using joy as a verb! The author of this chapter states that it is “almost like saying we’ll “Google” something.” So, it is not just to feel joy, but to actively seek it, make it a choice. Is this an option? YES, it surely is. And I thought back and saw that I have done this very thing several times in the past week alone. I used to hide during difficult times. I would withdraw, withhold all emotions and actions, keeping them all internal. When we do this repeatedly through the course of a lifetime (nearly 6 decades for me), it takes a toll. Robin shared this verse in her “I Will Joy” chapter:
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor the fruit be on vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy I the God of my Salvation.”Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV)
This week has been one of ups and downs, well the last few weeks have been filled with moments of great joy, and moments of disaster, all mixed together as life often does. Kindness mixed with anger, joy of a new home mixed with trials of floods, or things breaking. Mixed also were many visits with loved ones.
The wisdom I am gaining through my faith, combined with the fellowship of AA, has made this task of finding active joy a reality. This is something I would never have achieved on my own, when I was locked in my own very real prison of self-doubt, bitterness, envy, and sadness. My outward persona of happiness was a mask. Sure, I felt happy at times, and I tried to love others well, but I did not love myself, nor know Jesus. I had not learned HOW to truly love or care for anyone, let alone myself.
These past few years, learning to care for myself, transitioned into paying that forward. What I learned, I vowed to share with others so they may benefit by finding their unique way up and out. I talked about taking care of ourselves fully, mind, body, and spirit. I am only now beginning to understand exactly what that spirit side means, and that piece of the puzzle is so much bigger than I imagined. It’s pretty much everything.
Active joy to me, right now, is caring for others. It is in the true care, and I mean heart all in care. It is not in the doing; it is in the feeling. By that I mean, not simply doing something because I think I should, but doing something because my heart and the Lord tell me I surely can fill a need in another, and here…this is how you do it. Not only does this help the other person, but it makes my path to God that much freer, and open…unblocked. When I do the right thing, I feel “right.”
Little shifts in how I see things make huge differences. Getting out of my way, looking at and truly “seeing” another person, rather than how they affect me, but what they are going through. Asking and praying for God’s help in serving – all of this activates joy. I have also learned that this requires me to respond kindly to others even when I have not been treated so kindly, to take into account where that person is, and meet them there, to not get caught up in my perceived transgression, and NOT respond in kind, rather to BE kind. It is also making little acts of love a priority. I want to lift others up, not tear them down.
I’m still learning, and have just had this revelation, but I had to get it out here, to remember and actively grow it.
Love, Sue
Comments