Choose JoySample

DAY 14 – WHY SO DOWNCAST?

Reflection: For someone reading today, joy is more a memory than a present reality. Maybe you’ve disconnected from church and, like the Psalmist, can only look back on your experience of going to the house of God. Today could be the day to change that.

Or perhaps a loss, hurt, or disappointment has come between you and your shouts for joy. Pour out your soul like the Psalmist. Ask yourself, why do I stay in that lonely place? Why so downcast? Tell yourself, ‘Put your hope in God’!

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for ‘downcast’ shachach, most commonly means to be brought low or cast down. But it can also mean to bow down. Perhaps when we feel low, we are closer to worship than we realise.

Whatever our situation, when we put our hope in God by giving our life to Jesus, we never cease to be under the protection of the Mighty One. No matter how far away we feel, it’s only one step back.

Choose joy: Don’t let joy be a memory, pour out your soul before God, and put your hope in Him.