Joyful Life

*This is the last post in the series, Journey to Joy. To start from the beginning, click here.

The anxiety was an indication I wasn’t walking with God in my new nature. Not only does He tell us what to do, but He shows us how to do it. In this way, it is His strength which fuels our action. Depending on our personality and individual tendencies, we may be inclined to run ahead of God. So often we receive direction only to run ahead in our own effort. We exhaust ourselves trying to do God’s will and experience burn-out as a result. In this way, we work for God and not with God. I was learning to lean my entire nature into Him, and allowing Him to empower me to live my life. My own nature was broken by sin; I only wanted to do life in Him. I was learning to walk at His pace, not the frenetic pace of the world. I found I had plenty of energy to do what I needed to do, simply by humbly submitting to His way continually.

As I enjoyed His presence, His comfort, and His peace, I craved to do His will more and more. The temptation to do my own thing melted away as I experienced a whole new way of living, a way filled with the things my soul truly longed for. I could taste and see for myself that the Lord is good, and my fleshly desires were increasingly less appealing. I was becoming more focused and attached to the Spirit of God.

Since I was prone to anxiety by nature, the only way to experience freedom every day was to live out of my new nature. God replaces our DNA with Christ’s and we walk into our new nature by being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God exchanges our spirit with His Spirit, and we learn to live out of our renewed spirit. The Spirit trains us into unbroken fellowship with God and we experience new life, a joyful life, in Christ. Hallelujah!