Lost your joy?

Psalm 43:4
to God, my joy and my delight

Psalm 126:3
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.

I've talked to lots of people who say that they doubt their faith; they don't really feel connected to God and they seemed to have lost their joy. They no longer take delight in His word; in spending time with Him. Just because you have lost that "Jesus feeling" doesn't mean you have entirely lost your faith. Even the great King David felt this way:

Psalm 51:12

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.

David wrote this psalm right after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband. He had sinned and was coming back to the Lord with a repentant heart. He knew he hadn't lost his salvation, but he had lost the joy of his salvation. Sometimes I think that is the problem with us. We sin so much, and then we expect everything to be perfectly fine between us and God. But we can't have an intimate, close, and personal relationship with our Lord without repenting of that sin and asking Him to fill and restore us to Him. I've had to do that recently; I had to come before God and ask Him to make me my all, my joy, and my fulfillment. If we don't consistently come before God asking for repentance, then we will feel far off and distant from Him. Plead with your Savior to show you your sin and ask Him to be your joy, your peace, and your everything.

In His Love,

Jessica