Proverbs 17:22 compares joy and cheerfulness to medicine: ‘A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength.’ Worry, anxiety and sadness leave us feeling drained, tired and weak, but the effect of joy on our spirit is like the effect that medicine can have on us when we’re feeling ill. Although there are studies that show being cheerful and positive could be beneficial to our health, this verse certainly doesn’t mean we should reject medical help or think we can replace it by just being positive about life. God has blessed doctors and scientist with the skills to discover treatments and help us when we’re ill, and there’s nothing in His Word that says we shouldn’t accept medical treatment or seek professional help. But alongside any medical treatment we need, we should also ask God to help us too. Romans 12:12 says: ‘Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer’ (NIV). Whatever circumstances we’re facing, we can ask God to help us have joy. That doesn’t mean we forget the seriousness of the things we’re facing or that our feelings don’t matter. We can experience God’s joy when we tell Him about what’s burdening our mind and hand it over to Him to carry for us. When our hope and trust is in God, we can learn to be joyful in all kinds of circumstances, because we know He’ll walk with us, comfort us, and allow us draw on Hs strength to face our circumstances.

What Now?

Ask God to help you feel His joy at all times and in all situations you’ll find yourself in today.