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Joy Robbers are a fact of life. Have you ever thought about what is robbing your joy?

People most surely can rob our joy, IF we let them. 

Don’ t you find at times that someone will aggravate you or make you angry. Watch out as that is robbing your joy to allow them to do so.  Perhaps your children or co-workers are demanding of your time and energy.   Maybe you and your spouse had a disagreement, regardless of how minor it may have affected your day. 

We have to live and work with people, that is the way it is.  Becoming a recluse isn’t  the answer to finding and keeping your joy in life.

Circumstances are the second way our joy can be stolen from us IF we allow it.

Consider how you feel when all the things in your life are going well.  The car doesn’t break down. The month runs out before the money. Everyone is healthy and thriving in the family. No one is fighting.  Work is awesome. The list goes on.  Of course we feel on top of the world.

Yet how much of this do we really control in life?  We can’t control the weather, things other people do and say, accidents and such. The circumstances of life are truly pretty much out of our control except for minor daily things.  So why stew over all the impossiblities that may arise. Set fear aside and experience each day in the fullness of joy that God promised us.

Worry is a huge thief.  It robs of of so much in life. Worry is fear in action. Fear is a lack of faith in trusting that the Lord is in control of what…our circumstances. Right now our country as well as the rest of the world is struggling.  We take those thoughts in and let the worry of the future steal our joy. Worry - fear steals our physical health as well as our peace and sleep. 

Things can surely steal our joy. Jesus warns us against laying up treasures on earth where moth and dust will destroy. Instead we should be laying treasures in heaven that are eternal.    Things cost us money, which leads to worry about finances to purchase them.

Over the years I have helped elderly relatives downsize from the farm to a house in town. After some years they were aging and the health was failing. So we began the process of downsizing things from the house to go to a retirement lodge.  Once again they had to move as they needed daily care so they downsized their possessions to almost nothing to live in a nursing home.   In this process I began to realize that we work all our lives to acquire things that eventually we will get rid of.  Many times these things have value to us, however our children and grandchildren may not value them as we did.

So we work to acquire things that end up going by the way side. The past years I have become more cognizant of where I spend my money. Things can pull the greed and envy right out of a person as well.  Just watch a couple of kids fight over an item. How about your teenager who just has to buy that name brand clothing because all the friends have it too. 

All of these JOY ROBBERS are interconnected as well. 

Consider your life and evaluate whether or not any of these four are robbing your joy!