What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion. Psalm 119:2
I think that we are all looking for our “heart’s passion,” whether we realize it or not.
We want to feel alive; to break free of the mundane and live in a place where adrenaline flows freely. Experts tell us to get there by processing and learning, and these days there are any number of books, podcasts, or classes that promise the perfect solution and the perfect life – a heart fulfilled and a life worth living.
But let’s be honest, we can talk about dreams and passion all day long and still not experience any of it. Some days we just want to make it to the next cup of coffee. The reason: life isn’t an intellectual pursuit; it is an affair of the heart. Our heads will only take us so far, and we can only be prodded into action by ideology for so long. If our hearts are not engaged, dreams become elusive, risk feels unreasonable, passion fades, and joy stays out of reach.
Joy is not something we think our way into. It is a gift; a fruit that grows on a tree rooted and grounded in love, not performance. An apple tree doesn’t struggle to produce apples; that is what it was made for. When our pursuit is God, when that is the passion that consumes our hearts, joy will come naturally. Not contrived. Not a result of striving. Not a mask we hope makes us look joyful. But true, authentic, deep joy. (Galatians 5:22)
And I believe that is why God has never asked us to relate to Him simply out of obligation. He has always wanted our hearts. It isn’t our discipline that ultimately produces joy. It is our devotion. We don’t stumble into joy by accident. We walk into it through love.
Love doesn’t come without challenges. We often condemn the Israelites for all their complaining in the wilderness. We read their stories and wonder, *How could they possibly choose Egypt over God’s offer of relationship especially after all He had done for them?* Yet I’ve done the same thing and asked the very same questions.
When life is going well, it’s easy to be full of faith and enthusiasm. When prayers are being answered, doors are opening, and we can see the evidence of God’s goodness, it’s easy to follow and feel the joy. But what happens when life isn’t what we expect? What happens when the prayer isn’t answered the way we hoped? When the diagnosis comes, the relationship breaks, the door closes, or the thing we trusted God for seems farther away than ever?
Our circumstances have a way of grabbing our attention. When something goes wrong, often our first response is to reach for our phones. We search Google. We ask ChatGPT. We read another article, listen to another opinion, and try to find some explanation for our situation. We tell ourselves we’re looking for answers, but sometimes we’re really looking for relief.
And instead of finding peace, we end up feeding our fear. One search leads to another, and before we know it, we have lived out every horrible scenario in our heads, and the death scroll moves from the screen to our hearts. What started as a search for comfort becomes a spiral of speculation. Our hearts have quietly or violently shifted. And when our attention and affections are somewhere else, joy has very little room to be realized or to grow.
But when we turn our hearts back toward Him, something changes. God’s joy isn’t dependent on having a perfect life or a perfect Instagram feed. It is rooted in something far deeper: knowing Him and knowing that we belong to Him. (Song of Songs 7:10)
If we take a moment and remind ourselves of the times He was there for us. Our experience of His goodness was undeniable. The miracles that don’t make sense on paper but we know are true because we lived them. The memories that may look insignificant to everyone else but mean everything to you because of the relationship behind them. These are the moments with God that mark us. Moments when He speaks, comforts, surprises, or simply makes His presence known in a way we never forget. Those encounters become part of our story. They remind us who He is and, perhaps even more importantly, who we are to Him.
We belong to Him. And that is where joy begins to take root. Joy is so much more than a giggle or a tingle. It has weight to it. It strengthens us. (Nehemiah. 8:10) It gives us hope. It is an anchor when nothing around us makes sense. Sometimes the things that bring us the most joy don’t make sense at all. That’s because joy isn’t a commodity we trade for; it is the fruit of relationship.
And something beautiful happens when our passion for Him and joy begin to feed each other. The more we surrender to Him, the more we discover His goodness. The more we encounter His goodness, the more our hearts want Him. Passion fuels joy, and joy fuels passion.
Maybe that’s what the Psalmist was talking about when he said that joy would *overwhelm* those who seek God as their heart’s passion.
If we are looking for the most exciting journey our lives could possibly take, perhaps we don’t need another book telling us how to find our purpose. Maybe we don’t need another class teaching us how to dream bigger or take greater risks. Maybe we simply need to give God our hearts again. Because one moment in His presence can do more than a lifetime of striving ever could. (Psalm 16:10)
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13