We are all guilty of a fake smile from time to time and that’s normally. It’s when you can’t fake it anymore, it takes too much effort, you’re too tired, that you know you’ve lost something- Joy.

Deep down. The soul reanching feeling that something is missing. Something is dead and you want it back. It’s when you stop feeling because you can’t feel anything. The sadness drains you.

You have no desire to do much of anything. You run on cruise control and life just passes you by without noticing much of anything. Until the car in front of you stops and you don’t notice. That’s when it all comes into focus. Abruptly in a crash.

Much of our lives feel unimportant, seemingly insignificant and mundane. Waking up, eating, household duties, school, work, go to bed, and repeat. Day after day. Then weeks and months go by.

Don’t let the mundane fool you. Even in the mundane, God has a plan for you. It’s all about perspective. About what am I going to do in those mundane activities. Am I going to live in the moment and see its purpose? Am I going to make them count? Am I showing mercy to the broken hearted and lost? Am I trusting that God is good? That He is watching out for me? That His army is protecting me?

It’s taking these mundane moments of life and seeing them through the God lenses. It’s about changing our heart motivation, finding the eternal purpose in them and seeing things in a whole new way. It’s finding joy!

Unfortunately we like to stay in the mundane because it’s all we know. It’s nostalgic. Unfortunately we often believe the lies and we’ve lived there for a while. Sometimes we just get stuck in the mud. And we need to decided that it is not okay. It’s not okay to allow the darkness close in on us. It’s not okay to just live a mundane life. No!!

God wants us to run into the darkness to find the light at the end. God wants us to be free. God wants us to see Him in the mundane. In washing the dishes for the 1,00th time and finding it’s purpose. In giving thanks for what good is in our life. Many times we are not quiet and still to see them. Many times we walk around life with our eyes closed and ears plugged.

We need to decide. To take one small step. One step of crying out. And I mean really crying out to God! We need to praise Him in the darkness. “Lord Jesus! I need you. Thank you for today. For giving me breath but I need to see the light. I need more of you in my life. I need joy! I need to see the good because you still are a good God.”

And you know what. God created us to live in communion with one another. In an authentic, real, and vulnerable communion with each other. God has given us worship music so that we can sing. God has given us scripture so that we can speak over ourselves. God has given us breath to breathe. God has given us the tools to take one small step to walk out of the darkness with Him. It’s when we walk in darkness that we learn to listen to His voice because that’s all that we got. Let’s cling onto that!

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

When we decide to take on small step today with God we will find JOY! We will see God.