Joy Is Not Optional, Baby

Guard it, choose it, and walk in it before the world tries to steal it.

I’ve been searching for the right words to encourage people to hold on to joy.

Not surface-level happiness. Not pretending everything is fine. But a deep, anchored joy.

The kind that comes from consciously fixing our minds and vision on God — the One who promises to keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on Him.

Admittedly, it isn’t easy.

There are days I have to decide whether I will even look at the news, because there is nothing joyful to report. We scroll endlessly through social media, and more often than not, we find ourselves upset — our peace disrupted by strangers, headlines, opinions, and constant waves of negativity.

It can feel like a fight rigged to steal our joy.

And maybe that’s exactly what it is.

Because if the enemy can keep us distracted, angry, anxious, or divided, he doesn’t have to do much else. A joyless heart is an exhausted heart.

That’s why joy must be intentional.

Not out of ignorance.
Not out of avoidance.
But out of wisdom.

Joy requires stewardship.

Some days that means limiting the noise.
Some days it means turning off the phone.
Some days it means opening our Bible before we open an app.

So friends, before our feet even hit the floor in the morning, let’s make a conscious decision to choose joy.

Not because everything is good.
Not because the headlines are hopeful.
But because our strength depends on it.

Scripture reminds us, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” And if we’re honest, we need strength now more than ever.

Strength to love well.
Strength to stay steady.
Strength to resist being pulled into outrage and despair.
Strength to remain faithful when the world feels loud and unsteady.

Now let me be honest with you.

The very day I finished writing these thoughts about choosing joy, by evening my buttons had been pushed. Hard.

And there I was — not floating in perfect peace — but on my knees asking God to calm my spirit and help me settle my heart.

Isn’t that something?

We can write it.
We can encourage others in it.
And then life shows up to test it.

Choosing joy doesn’t mean we won’t feel frustration. It doesn’t mean we won’t have moments where our emotions rise faster than our faith.

It means we know where to go when it happens.

And sometimes choosing joy looks less like smiling and more like surrendering.

Here’s my Mama Wisdom reminder to you — and to myself:

Baby, don’t let the world decide your emotional climate before you’ve even spoken to God.

Set the tone for your day before the day sets the tone for you.

Guard your joy like it’s precious — because it is.

Joy isn’t weakness.
It’s fuel.

And when your joy comes from the Lord — not from the news cycle, not from social media, not from public opinion — it becomes something the world cannot take from you.

So choose it.
Protect it.
Walk in it.

Because joy is not optional, baby.