How healthy you are has a direct correlation to how joyful you choose to be. Anything that can steal your joy will zap your strength and vitality. It will ultimately cut short your life in its prime. I am a naturally happy person, but it is also a personal choice. Not that I don’t have days that are adverse, but I protect my joy from ill effect through the Lord.
Depression is a sneaky thief that can be caught by filling our hearts with the joy of the Lord and being thankful for life. I was watching a TV programme recently where the police were called to the aid of a deeply depressed lady who was threatening to cut and kill herself. Upon arrival, they found her in the living room, and she was saying how she really did not want to live anymore.
The lady officer was very good at conversing with the woman and soon moved her thoughts away from self harm and started to remind her about all the good things around her. It wasn’t long before the woman was smiling and laughing, and she shouted goodbye to the officers as they left.
The officer did not give the woman any medication. She gave her the best spiritual medication of all: JOY. The Word (paraphrased) says that “a merry or cheerful heart is as good as any medication.” (Proverbs 17:22). Have you ever noticed that very happy people live longer and rarely fall ill? Their heart is pumping blood daily.
Refuse to settle for a low mood. Surround yourself with happy people and make a personal choice to be filled with praise. The cure for depression is internal joy. The power of joy is triggered when you are able to rejoice even when your present reality does not warrant it.
However, it is noteworthy that to be truly joyful, you have to have a genuine relationship with God. God is the true source of joy. You can be rich and still be depressed. You can have a good career and still be empty, but you cannot have a genuine relationship with God and not be truly joyful. The Lord’s joy is the link to strength and a long life.
Hear what the prophet Jeremiah said in the Word of the Lord: ‘’Don’t be dejected (feel sorry) and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10). In other words, when you are joyful the strength to carry on, even in adversity, is infused. When you are strengthened with joy, you will most assuredly live long.
Always remember Psalms 102:23: “He has exhausted my strength [humbling me with sorrow] in the way; He has shortened my days.” #longlife#prosperity#divinestrength#vitality#secretoflonglife