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Little Boy Joy

God's Kindness Quest Series

When I was a little boy

I thought joy was playing with a new toy

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Discovered with each new birthday cake

I outgrew the toy, or it would break

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When I became a teenager

I thought joy was being popular

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Discovered popularity has an ebb and flow

Friends throughout life come and go

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When I experimented as a young man

I thought joy was partying at the beach, while getting a tan

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Discovered the tan and high were only temporary

Long-term skin damage and hangovers, scary  

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When I reached middle age

I thought joy was measured by the "American Dream" gauge

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Became a workaholic, endlessly paying for stuff

Discovered the vehicle, house, and TV never seemed big enough

 

When I noticed my hair turning white as snow

I thought joy was retirement, freedom to come and go

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Discovered I still had concerns and fears

Would my health and money last through the years

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I learned joy isn’t found in a toy or the latest hi-tech gadget

Nor in how popular and well-liked I am on this planet

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I learned joy isn’t found in lust, the next party, or food

Nor is it found in retirement or how much money I've accrued

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I learned joy isn’t found on my next day off

Nor in my paycheck, a tax refund, or a lottery payoff

 

Joy isn’t a brilliant plan, an achievement, or destination

It blossoms as we trust God and walk out our salvation

 

Ask God to fill you with joy during each moment of life’s journey 

Embrace his gift of joy on this earth and into eternity

Interactive Questions

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV), "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

  • What emotions, memories, thoughts, convictions, or inspirations bubbled up while reading the poem?

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  • Father God, what do you want me to know about my answers to the previous question? 

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  • The poem identified many examples of how people chase after things, which they believe will produce happiness and joy. How have you pursued happiness and joy throughout your life? 

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  • Lord, what do you want me to know about my current and past pursuits of happiness and joy? 

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  • Lord, how have I misguidedly pursued happiness and joy in the following areas? 

  1. Health: 

  2. Career:

  3. Time:

  4. Energy:

  5. Relationship with you:

  6. Relationship with others:

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  • Lord, concerning my answers to the previous question, how can I cooperate with you to bring restoration? 

  1. Health: 

  2. Career:

  3. Time:

  4. Energy:

  5. Relationship with you:

  6. Relationship with others:

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  • On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest ranking, how do you rate your level of joy and happiness over the last 6 months?

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       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

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  • What previously brought you joy, but no longer does? What changed? 

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  • Lord, what is your perspective about my answer to the last question? ​

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  • How many times a day do you smile or laugh? ​

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  • What makes you laugh?

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  • Lord, what do I laugh at, yet you don’t think it is funny? Why don’t you think it’s funny?​

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  • Lord, what have I said or done, which sparked laughter in your heart and brought a smile to your face? Why were you laughing and smiling? 

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  • Father God, what is your definition of joy and how can I receive it daily? 

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  • Father God, is there anything else you want to share with me at this moment?

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Prayer

James 5:16 (NLT),  "... The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.​"

Lord, my joy meter tends to fluctuate, depending upon life’s situations. Forgive me for allowing joy to be tainted, stolen, or diminished by interactions with people or circumstances. Help me take responsibility for my emotions and responses, including humbling myself and asking forgiveness when appropriate. Help me have the courage and integrity to reject ungodly social trends, values, and mindsets. Teach me how to maintain a steadfast joy level.

 

Lord, explosive violence, threats of war, pandemics, and lack of respect for each other are escalating around the world. I give you the weight of it all, including worry, fear, and hopelessness. Forgive me for allowing it to erode joy. 

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Lord, forgive me for telling jokes you find offensive; for laughing at jokes which demean or devalue others; for watching comedies which make fun of people for the sake of a laugh; and for criticizing or mocking others, finding that funny. I repent of seeking joy through ungodly sexual encounters, drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, financial gain, technology, social media, entertainment, achievements, and all counterfeit attempts to experience joy. 

 

Forgive me for chasing wealth and accumulating possessions, thinking it would produce joy. It has left me exhausted, debt-laden, empty, and stolen time from relationships. I ask you to teach me how to become debt-free and restore relationships. 

 

I repent of wrong focus and thinking, forgetting the key priorities are to love you, others and myself. Teach me how to keep my relationship with you and others as the top priority. Show me how to simplify my life and shed time-stealing habits, which aren’t life-giving or healthy. 

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Forgive me for allowing the world’s standards of laughter and joy to calibrate my joy meter. I reject them now and I choose genuine joy, which can only come from you. You promise your joy strengthens us. May that truth manifest in me daily. Amen.

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  • Lord, what did this prayer activate in accordance with James 5:16?

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  • Tweak the existing prayer as desired or craft a new personalized one.

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT), "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true ..."

Psalm 40:4 (NLT)

“Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.”

 

Galatians 5:19-26 (NLT)

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

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  • List meaningful Bible verses which come to mind regarding this poem, the interactive questions, and prayer.

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