Finding Undeniable Joy!

Undeniable /uhn-di-nahy-uh-buhl/ adj incapable of being denied or disputed

Joy /joi/ n the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation

Undeniable joy /uhn-di-nahy-uh-buhl joi/ mental state The emotion of delight that is incapable of being disputed

Have you ever felt giddy- like the “I can’t sit in my seat I am so excited because something totally awesome just happened” kind of elation? Your heart starts racing and you are kind of laughing and you just want to get up and do your happy dance! And no matter how much other people will judge you, you do it anyways! You shout down the halls and dance through your day! Now, imagine feeling that overflowing of joy for eternity! Imagine wanting to jump up and down screaming “Yay! Yay! Yay!” forever! It is the best feeling ever and this kind of undeniable joy comes from only one place!

The Lord alone gives undeniable joy! He gives me strength and joy and I am incapable of refuting that it come from him! To be undeniably joyful is to dance through life because God is good! Your circumstances might not be good, but the Lord is! And you dance and dance and sing and jump and shout and dance some more and make a complete and total fool of yourself, but it doesn’t matter! Even on your worst days you have a reason to celebrate! Jesus is alive and God is here and he is real and he is doing good work in your life! How can you not smile when you hear that? Let me say it again, God is good!

Something someone once said to me that I loved was, “Here is an undeniable joy for you!” They followed this up by reading a bible verse to me. At first I thought, “That’s a weird way to say that.” But, then I realized that it was pure genius! If joy comes from the Lord and the Lord is truth and light, then an undeniable joy is something that shines light and truth into my life! A bible verse, a song, a C.S. Lewis quote (let’s be real- that guy was awesome!), they can all be an undeniable joy! They speak truth and they give an ounce of an explanation for the crazy amounts of joy you have found! No one will fully be able to experience true joy until they accept it for themselves, but an undeniable joy is a morsel of wisdom that attempts to explain what it feels like to have concentrated joy running in your veins as opposed to blood!

I realize that most of you think this is crazy. You say; “Katie, I don’t know how to be joyful.” But, the thing is, you do! You are preventing yourself from this obscene amount of joy! It take practice to integrate joy in your life and to be okay to throw it around like confetti, but I believe you can do it! Here are 3 things that will shove your joy in the right direction!

1. Begin by reading God’s word! Once you realize how deeply he loves you, it will be impossible to not be joyful!
2. I also highly recommend finding a christian dance party playlist! Put it on and practice your sick moves so you are ready to do your happy dance whenever the situation calls for it (and it almost always calls for it)!
3. A major thing to do is stop complaining! I am going to say this three more times because it is integral! Stop complaining. Stop complaining. Stop complaining. Complaining centers your thoughts around the negatives, joy is a celebration of good. And there is always good to be found! Instead of moping or complaining, look for the joys in the situation(Hint: a constant one is that Jesus has saved you and he is in control)!

Undeniable joy is not a fleeting feeling. It does not only come when good things happen. It does not go away when bad things happen. It is lifelong and it will never leave you! You cannot return it (and I don’t know why you would want to!) and it cannot be taken from you! It comes from the Lord and it is the most beautiful thing to ever enter into my life!