What Our Lack of Joy Teaches Us

Who loves a good mystery??

I am all about the prime time mystery show. It’s hard to name one that I haven’t watched at least a little bit of.

But mysteries in my life? Not my favorite.

I am (hopefully) obviously not talking about larceny and murder mysteries in my life, but mysteries like “Why does that person make me so angry?“ Or “What is it about her (or me 😬) that makes me feel so jealous whenever I see her in my feed?“ Or “Why is it that I struggle so much to find joy with my family when I’m called to be their mom?”

These mysteries are infinitely less fun. They are internal, messy, painful, embarrassing. They forced me to admit a lot of things that I don’t really want to: I’m not perfect (shocker), I have a lot of growing to do (well, yes), and who knows where I would be without God because I surely need redemption (also, #duh). 

And though none of these realizations seem that groundbreaking, I think coming up against the fact that these things are true specifically about me and specifically in these mysterious situations is a level of reality check that I am not really interested in nine times out of ten.

And that’s part of why I think messages like Heather Khym shares with us today on this episode of the For the Joy Missionary Show are so important. She shares about how these “mysteries“ – the places that we don’t experience joy - rub up against our woundedness and show us where we need to be healed. But then comes the important part - we don’t heal alone. 

We have to invite Jesus into that process, and frequently others as well who are equipped to walk with us, whether it is a spiritual director, counselor, friend, or doctor.

I can’t wait for you to listen in on Heather’s wisdom: Listen in on Youtube, Spotify, or anywhere you like to get your podcasts! (Search “For the Joy Missionary!” and hit Subscribe!)

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