Last night at Celebrate Recovery I gave my testimony to our group. This is always a very emotional time for me reliving those days of childhood coupled with the years of recovery therapy. It is even more painful today to relive the old beliefs that I had about God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit. Celebrate Recovery calls these character defects and hang-ups. These are things life teaches us by our experiences more than by sheer lessons and they become false truths.

This morning as I arose I simply felt exhausted. I sat down with my coffee to start my devotional time. I opened my journal and wrote to Jesus just how emotionally spent I felt. I went on to attach this to the fact that I’m open today to my emotions and the very truth of life’s damages and also the truth that God our Father has a plan to take us through it with Him by our side holding us as we find Him in all aspects of our past. All of this is emotional energy spent. What I wasn’t expecting when I asked Jesus what He wanted me to know from Him for today, was His response. He said in part, “I want you to take a moment right now and rejoice. The JOY of the Lord awaits for you if you will just stop and rejoice in My Spirit.”

As this moment unfolded He reminded me of those in attendance who needed to hear His redemptive work and that He has this same opportunity for them. Taking the time to rejoice this morning brought humbling Light to the obedience of last night. “The Joy of the Lord is our STRENGTH,” (Nehemiah 8:10). Today this Joy became my strength replacing the emotional exhaustion. God just never stops being AMAZING!