Since coming back to the Church a few years ago I have been working very hard in my faith. I’ve recently come to the realization that I have no joy in my faith. In its place I feel only a need to be obedient. To do what God wants me to do. This relationship can’t be right. I must be doing something wrong.
There is supposed to be joy, right?
Any reading recommendations?
I read this thread earlier. I liked twosweet’s comments about the joy in obedience. These thoughts came to me while out in my garden. Was Jesus joyful in the Garden of Gethsemane? I think along the walk of Christian faith, many eventually reach where we want want to cry out, “Take this cup from me!” That hardly sounds joyful. But we still need to say, as Jesus did, “But not my will, but thy will be done.”
Obedience sometimes demands more from us than we want to give. It asks us to give up or do things that may be contrary to our desires. Obedience can help “crucify” our selfishness. Sometimes those tiny crucifixions, more like splinters than nails, that can temporarily rob us of our joy. Maybe its more like postponed joy, but when we’re in the midst of our personal “Good Fridays”, we may forget Easter’s on its way.
Yes, I do believe there is suppose to be joy in our Christian walk. Joy goes deep. Maybe, like the perennials in my gardens, a Christian’s joy may seem dead during the winter of life, yet it rises from deep roots again in the spring. Sometimes God gives new believers an “easy faith” in their first few seasons. I think St. Paul referred spiritual milk for spiritual babies, but as we grow in faith, God introduces solid food that’s a little harder to chew. If one’s walk of faith has primarily been God doing the giving, then the self-giving back to God through obedience may not feel as good or joyful.
And my last point, relates back to your username “iamrefreshed”. Are you really refreshed? We are humans, body, soul and spirit, and the bodily needs for things like sleep and food can effect our emotions. While Jesus asked His friends to stay up late on Holy Thursday while He prayed in the garden, He also slept on a boat during a storm. He fasted for forty days in the desert, but He also feasted. He had the proper balance. If any of our bodily needs are out of balance, I think our human emotions may also get out of balance. Maybe the joy can return through something as simple as getting adequate rest.
Reading recommendations: A Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life by Hannah Withal Smith. Not a Catholic author; she fails to mention Sacramental graces, but I don’t recall that it contains anything contrary to the faith. I think this is a great little book. It’s about a hundred or so years old, but it’s a Christian classic. There’s an abridged version with more modern English.
) by that I mean I may temporarily have my world rocked but it won;t stir me up away from my faith. It’s ok to get shaken, sometimes it is necessary, but we carry on even when shaken.