DAY 21 — The Quest for Joy

Joy is one of the deepest thirsts of the human heart. It is no surprise it is our Thirst Quenching Essential #6. We don’t just want to survive; we want to be happy. Pastor John Piper once said, “I can no more not want to be happy than I cannot get hungry after eight or nine hours of not eating. It is not a choice. It is the way you are wired in the image of God.”

We can’t escape it. God made us craving beings—desire factories always searching for joy. The question isn’t if we’ll pursue joy, but where?

And here’s where it often goes wrong. We chase joy in people: expecting a spouse, a friend, or a child to fulfill us. Or we chase it in possessions: the dream job, the right salary, the Pinterest-perfect life. Others turn to experiences, substances, or distractions to dull the unhappiness that aches inside. But sooner or later, these pursuits collapse under the weight of our expectations. They weren’t designed to carry them.

When we look for joy in anything other than God, the result is disappointment and despair.

That’s why Paul prays in Colossians 1 that we would be strengthened with God’s glorious power to endure and, astonishingly, that this endurance would spill over into joy. This isn’t joy as the world defines it—fleeting happiness when things go our way. It’s a deep satisfaction in God that remains even when life is hard.

The Psalmist points us in the right direction:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV

God is not only the source of joy—He Himself is the joy we are seeking.

So if you’ve been disappointed by people, let down by your circumstances, or left empty by chasing the next best thing—remember this: the thirst for joy was put in you by God, and He alone is able to satisfy it.

Drink Deep

Where have you been chasing joy apart from Jesus? Identify one substitute today, and ask the Lord to redirect your thirst toward Him, the only source of joy that satisfies.