4 Ways to Take Back Your Joy

Identifying the 4 Joy Thieves
​in Philippians

Have you ever woken up on a bright, sunny morning when you should feel great, but you just don’t? I know there are many factors in the lives of women that make life hard and often not enjoyable. I find that often my joy is affected by so many outside influences and can vary based on the moment. A text dings on my phone, and suddenly, my whole attitude shifts. Maybe your child reacts to something you said, and now you are in a bad mood. Maybe your husband makes a careless comment about your appearance or your cooking, and now your whole day is ruined. How do we combat these types of emotional shifts and influences on our joy each day?

You might know that the book of Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. He was waiting for the Roman government to decide whether to release him or to behead him. I’m certain if I were writing this letter to my friends from a previous journey through their town, my main theme would NOT have been joy! Paul had all the reasons to complain, but instead, he pointed the minds and hearts of the Philippian church to some foundational truths that can help us today to “steal” back our joy! The truth is this – my outlook on life determines a lot of the outcome of my circumstances. Solomon says it this way: “for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” (Proverbs 23:7a). I believe Paul points us to the truth that the way to guard our joy from thieves is often a battle for right thinking!

​To “steal” back our joy, it is important first to identify what might be the cause of losing that joy in the first place. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Philippians outlines these thieves of joy in a masterful way.[1] There are essentially four main thieves of joy in our lives: circumstances, people, things, and worry. Let’s take a brief look at each of these thieves.

1. Circumstances
   Isn’t it easy to be joyful when things are going the way we want them to? Of course. But the fact is, how often do we have control of our circumstances? Pretty much never! Can you control the traffic on the way to your appointment or to drop the kids off at school? Can you control the weather on a day when you have big plans outdoors? Can you control the time it takes for your visa paperwork to be returned to you? (This is my acute situation as a missionary in Italy!) We desire control of our lives, but the truth is we don’t have much control at all. When we allow circumstances to govern our joy, the thief is always going to win! The result of giving in to this thief is misery. That’s not how we want to live.
   
   
2. People
   Just as we can’t control circumstances, we definitely can’t control people! All of us at some point in life have allowed what someone else does to affect our attitude. Maybe it’s what that person said, or maybe it’s what that person did, and poof, our joy is stolen! Someone once said that ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people! But life is all about people. We can’t avoid them all the time without joining a convent, and even then, I imagine we would still have to deal with people there too if The Sound of Music taught us anything. We can’t isolate ourselves from people because we were created to glorify God and point other people to do the same. Jesus told us to be salt and light in this world in Matthew 5. So, we must learn to guard against the joy thief of people in our lives.
   
   
3. Things
   ​Have you ever lost your joy because of seeing what someone else had that you wanted? Maybe someone at church drives up next to you in the car you have always dreamed of owning. Maybe there is that house that you drive by every day, and wanting it so badly steals your joy when you park in front of the home God has given you. See, things can so easily steal our joy. Jesus reminds us that our lives are not about things: “…for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15b). Part of His Sermon on the Mount is an admonition about what kind of treasure we choose to possess (Matthew 6:19-21). Our hearts live in joy when our treasurers match God’s treasurers. The thief of things is a dubious enemy that we must fight against.
   ​
   
4. Worry
   This one is hard for me to even write about. I find it so much easier to worry about things than to trust God. But, to put it bluntly, any time I worry about something, I am sinning against my trustworthy God. Worry is probably the worst of all these thieves. It robs us of right thinking and even causes physical problems when we let it go too far. Medical research shows that worry can affect your sleep, digestion, blood pressure, immune system, and so much more. “While medicine can remove the symptoms, it cannot remove the cause. Worry is an ‘inside job.’ You can purchase sleep at the drug store, but you cannot purchase rest.”[2] Remember, Paul had all the right reasons to worry about whether the Roman government would find him guilty, but we find in Philippians his formula for combating worry and having joy instead! Don’t let worry steal your joy!
   

Let’s stop and take inventory. Have you been robbed recently? What is it that is stealing your joy today? Run to Christ, asking Him to restore your joy and help you think right about the circumstances, people, things, or causes of worry that robbed you in the first place. Paul writes this book from a place of victory. I imagine that he had already dealt with these things and wanted to help his brethren in Philippi to live in victory over these joy thieves as well.

Next time, we will look at what Paul shared with the Philippians about the right thinking that helps us guard against these thieves of joy. Take some time to read the book of Philippians and ask the Lord to help you guard against these thieves. It’s time to “steal” back your joy!

[1] The outlines and alliterated points in this blog post come from the introductory chapter of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Philippians called Be Joyful. These are just my thoughts on this great letter from Paul along with some of Wiersbe’s quotations. I highly recommend using his book as a more thorough study of this challenging yet blessed book of the Bible.
[2] Wiersbe, Warren. Be Joyful, p. 19.

Which “joy thief” has the most influence in your life right now—and what would change if you truly surrendered it to God and chose to think the way He calls you to?