If joy is produced by the act of rejoicing, it is important for us to know what rejoicing looks like; how we do it.

Rejoicing starts in your attitude and will. Its a decision to display the manifestations of joy without reference to how you actually feel at that moment. I don’t bounce out of bed full of pep and energy when I wake up. Often I have a heavy and groggy feeling of “Oh God! Another day. I’m still tired from the last one.” That’s what I felt when I awoke this morning having not gotten home last night until midnight and not getting to sleep until nearly 1:00 a.m. I woke in a predictable fog. But this morning when I awoke in the fog of “Oh my…” the thought that came to my mind is one that often does: “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (There’s that technical misquote you read about in the last post.)

So despite the hang over from too much yesterday, I immediately reset my mind. I begin to think of God, that this is His day, that He made it (and only He can make it great) and I’m gonna be happy in it. And somehow I find that thought energizing.

When my wife awakens she always grins at me. It is one of the most precious things in my life. I told her today it was a grin like our little girls used to give us when they saw us first thing in the morning when we went to get them out of their cribs and they burst into that toothless happy-to-see-you-baby-smile.  Over the years I’ve trained myself to always smile and wink at her. That’s kinda how our day begins, and it sets us off on a good path. That’s an act of rejoicing.

Most days—-but not always—one of the first things that happens in my day is that I spend some time with God. I read a Proverb or a few chapters from scripture, go through some memory verses, and pray. It’s not scripted. Some days I do more of one or another, and not everything happens every day. But those are the components to my time with God.  On the short end it might be 10 minutes, and some days its an hour. I’m not legalistic about it. In fact, I’d say that the regimented Daily Quiet Time approach into which I was discipled was damaging to me because I felt guilty that I couldn’t maintain the discipline to awaken every morning at 5:00 a.m. to pray for an hour. PRAISE GOD I am released from the guilt of that silly requirement! My time with God is grace-filled whether it is a few minutes or an hour. But I digress.

During my time with God, invariable there will be worship—a sense of “You are God and I am not. You are big and I am little. You sit on the throne and I don’t. You are worthy of praise and I am not.” That recalibration of my mind of who I am and who He is sets the tone for the day and seems to automatically come out of me with a sense of with rejoicing. I say to God things like “Hallelujah! I honor your name and I worship you. I praise your name. I give you glory and honor. You alone are worthy of my praise. You created the Heavens and the Earth by your spoken word. You are marvelous.” Those expressions of praise are wrapped in an attitude and atmosphere of rejoicing. When you know God well and understand Him intimately, you can’t be in His presence and not feel a sense of happiness about it. God is good!

I’m not always good at it, but I try to remember that in my first encounter with people in the morning, they may feel just like I do—hungover from a big yesterday—so I try to take control of the situation and be a thermostat; control the temperature. So I try to greet them with cheer. I always greet my daughters in a way that lets them know I am glad to see them. In my first phone calls of the day I try to communicate something positive or joyful, even if its just a sound of energy in my voice, in our first conversation.

I’m not perfect at rejoicing. These are just some tricks and tools that I use and that work for me. Being perfect isn’t the point, rejoicing is. Because it is the act of rejoicing that produces joy in our hearts.

How do you practice rejoicing? Reply below and tell me about it.

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Next up: A tribute to Happy Hubert.