{"id":1626,"date":"2024-09-30T08:04:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T15:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/gracebod\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2024-09-30T08:04:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T15:04:22","slug":"can-we-talk-about-joy-when-im-supposed-to-feel-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/gracebod\/2024\/09\/can-we-talk-about-joy-when-im-supposed-to-feel-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Talk About Joy – When I’m Supposed To Feel It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Make<\/a>
Can we talk about whose joy is filling me \u2013 whether I\u2019m \u201cfeelin\u2019 it\u201d or not? And can we talk about getting a clue about joy in a make-up pouch? Credit: Coco Cabrel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I\u2019ve always thought dancing brought me joy. Didn\u2019t it? I\u2019ve always thought dance \u2013 including as a professional dancer \u2013 was a joyful place to operate in, and to, quite literally, move around in. Wasn\u2019t it supposed to, forevermore? I\u2019ve often thought dancing with someone swept me into some joyful relationships. Wait, was I not feeling that anymore? And people who have watched me dance have often told me of the joy they\u2019ve felt from the performance. But can we talk about when I don\u2019t feel it?<\/p>\n

Because that\u2019s scary for me. And maybe there\u2019s something that you think is supposed to feel joyful for you \u2013 and it\u2019s scary when the joy seems to vanish.<\/p>\n

For a few months recently, I wasn\u2019t feeling the joy while dancing. Rehearsals had become merely a block to check off my calendar. Worries about not having enough show bookings had overtaken the joy of having the ones that I\u2019d been given. I hadn\u2019t truly danced with<\/em> anyone in a long time. And, perhaps worst of all, for several performances in a row, I\u2019d strongly doubted if anyone in the audience had gotten anything<\/em> of any<\/em> good out of them \u2013 let alone any actual joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThoughts\u201d on joy<\/h3>\n

By any chance, did you notice in the first paragraph how much my \u201cjoy\u201d revolved around what I \u201cthought\u201d about it?<\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s a problem. We \u201cthink\u201d we feel joy, or we \u201cthink\u201d we don\u2019t. The bigger, deeper problem is, we think we\u2019re supposed to<\/em> feel joy when we do this or that certain thing. And then we\u2019re disappointed or confused or downright resentful when we\u2019re not \u201cfeelin\u2019 it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I first started thinking about how to \u201cget my joy back\u201d and start feelin\u2019 it again, I went straight to Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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\u201c<\/sup>But the fruit\u00a0of the Spirit is love,\u00a0joy, peace,\u00a0forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,<\/span>\u00a0gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And I prayed and begged multiple times each day for the Holy Spirit to grow the fruit in me. It got to the point of sounding like this: \u201cPlease, please, please, especially grow the joy piece in me \u2013 I mean, it is<\/em> number 2 on the list. And after all, You\u2019re<\/em> the One who called me to do all this. So.\u201d<\/p>\n

#whosgotanattitudeproblem #raiseshand<\/p>\n

Joy-in-a-pouch<\/h3>\n

During this time, there was one show in particular that just didn\u2019t go well. Most of my performances these days are at schools, libraries, and camps, and this one was at a camp. Despite pulling out all my time-tested tricks to keep the attention of even the toughest audiences, these kids just weren\u2019t interested. At all. Even though the organizers apologized and gave me all sorts of legitimate reasons for the far-less-than-stellar behavior, I took it all like a gut punch.<\/p>\n

And despite having a perfectly excellent \u2013 dare I say \u201cjoyful\u201d \u2013 second show immediately after the first dumpster-fire show, it was so hard for me to not carry that first show back to my hotel room.<\/p>\n

After praying and begging and pleading for the Holy Spirit to PLEASE grow some joy in me, I unzipped my little make-up pouch that I bring to shows for touch-ups. Nothing special, I was simply getting everything ready for the next day\u2019s shows. How many times had I had done this almost mindless action over the previous year? This unzipping and checking and rearranging and double-checking of my little make-up pouch? It seemed to be mindless again, albeit an upset kind of mindless.<\/p>\n

This sweet little pouch with pink and purple butterflies on it was given to me by my husband\u2019s granddaughter a few Thanksgivings ago. It\u2019s a treasure to me. Now, no one in my husband\u2019s family is a believer (yet!). Yet, when I looked inside for the umpteenth time \u2013 THIS time\u2026 there it was, sewn in, on the label with the brand\u2019s logo:<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou will fill me with joy! Psalm 16:11\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Whose joy is<\/em> this anyway?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
What?!?! Had that been there all this time???<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The translation version of the verse wasn\u2019t on the label, so I looked it up in the NIV:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.\u201d (Psalms 16:11)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I suddenly realized I had been completely focused on asking for what I thought was missing, what I thought I deserved, and what I thought I needed. I was forgetting to ask God to be with me. To allow whichever kids He wanted to see or hear something, to do so. To dance with me \u2013 and let me dance \u201cat His right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

I worked on shifting my focus to dancing \u201cin His presence.\u201d With each show, each rehearsal, each dance, I took the time and embraced the humility to glorify Him by acknowledging the path He \u201cmakes known to me.\u201d And little by little, I touched His joy.<\/p>\n

His<\/em> joy. Imparted to me.<\/p>\n

Can we talk about joy \u2013 whenever!<\/h3>\n

Just the other day, I had the most joyful, God-filled rehearsal I\u2019d had in a long, long time. I even lost track of the time, and suddenly my husband was home, and I kept going. At dinner, I told my husband rehearsal was so much fun, and he said, \u201cYeah, it sounded like it!\u201d<\/p>\n

The difference was, when I asked God to be with me and help me put together some new choreographies for a new show, I fully released the thoughts of entitlement to joy. I even released the thoughts about how any future kids might receive the new show. I danced and worked on some dances simply to glorify God in those moments. Moments that no one would ever see. Just Him.<\/p>\n

Moments for us to be together. Just us. In presence. Filled with joy.<\/p>\n

That<\/em> was dancing in His presence, an \u201ceternal pleasure.\u201d That<\/em> was fruit of the Holy Spirit. I felt truly filled with His joy\u2026 not when I\u2019m \u201csupposed to,\u201d but when\u2026 ever!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always thought dancing brought me joy. Didn\u2019t it? I\u2019ve always thought dance \u2013 including as a professional dancer \u2013 was a joyful place to operate in, and to, quite literally, move around in. Wasn\u2019t it supposed to, forevermore? I\u2019ve often thought dancing with someone swept me into some joyful relationships. Wait, was I not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5118,"featured_media":1647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[156,153,147,150],"class_list":["post-1626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dance","tag-fruit-of-the-holy-spirit","tag-joy","tag-psalms-16"],"yoast_head":"\nCan we talk about joy when we're supposed to feel it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can we talk about joy when we're "supposed to" feel it? 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