I don't feel peace and joy

[Christian_lady]

I need some advice:

When I pray, read my Bible, I feel peace, comfort. It's subtle but there.

But when I go out into the world and start evangelizing, spreading the gospel there is a lot of discomfort.

I'm not sure why.

I try hard with my family members to get them to come to Christ. A few of them have but a few of them are skeptical. I can deal with the skepticism because I used to be a skeptic for most of my life.

God continues to tell me to spread His word. And I follow his will. But when I actually go out and do it, I don't feel the fruit of Joy.

It stems mostly from people not listening, not accepting, trying to convince me my way is 'stupid' and 'useless', etc.

I then get angry at God and tell Him, "If you want me to continue like this, give me Joy at least!" But no, nada. Just frustration and hesitation to continue evangelizing the next time.

*deep sigh*

[tt1106]

Are you in fellowship with other Christians?
Can you take Joy from the transformation that the Lord is making in your life?

[Dani H]

Joy, by definition, isn't a feeling, it's a fruit. Of the Spirit.

It's not something you make yourself feel, it's something you grow. Or more precise, something that God grows within you as you draw closer to Him and let His presence saturate more and more of your life and discard the things that are contrary to Him and that do not profit.

So you can see that joy isn't dependent on the reaction of other people; it's a work God does within us. Perhaps you're misunderstanding joy?

Also, you've had family members come to the Lord due to your sharing Him with them, and you're not bouncing off the walls in excitement? That be reason for shouting! Hallelujah!

If you're so uncomfortable, perhaps God is dealing with you about your fear of people, fear of rejection, fear of looking foolish, and lots of other things that can crop up when we open ourselves up and share our most precious with other people and encounter their various reactions. Seems to me God is having you do it to help remove walls in your own life as much as getting the word out to others. And let me tell you, I've been there myself, and had to get over myself. And the closer to Jesus I have grown over the years, and the more He has become my focus and has purged me from all the crippidycrap I've had within myself and all my hang-ups, the easier it has become to just share Him with others, regardless of what levels of resistance I encounter. There really is going to come a point where it will no longer matter.

You're the sower, taking His seed and plunking it down into soil. Someone else will come and water, and God will give the increase.

[SweetSomber]

Perhaps your spiritual gift is not evangilism.

Whatever your gift is, it will be something that you will enjoy doing. We all need to witness to some extent, but for those among us that are gifted with that, they will find extra joy in it.

I've witnessed many times, and not one has come to the Lord. I also suffer frustration sometimes, because, as much as we pray, or want to change other people, we Can't change other people.

With that said, peace and joy is not found in what you Do, but in your relationship with the Lord. I don't know if you can relate to this analogy, but you know how when you start dating someone, and it's going really well, everything else in life seems better? In the same way, if you are close to God, you will find peace and not fear, joy and not discontent, and love rather than frustration.

God Bless

[DPMartin]

Christian Lady

this may not seem to ably, but it just might help.........

It is true and undeniable that we are saved by Grace. Heck; We should be thankful that the Lord our God gave us place in the flesh as men that we can Know and live in the presences of our Creator. The Lord our God that He would give us place with Him through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior in His Holy Spirit who came in the flesh of the Son of man to be with us. Not even to mention being called and chosen. But there is no denying that Faith without works is no Faith at all.

What I see as the true question, is: What are the works of the Father? And who but God says what His works are? Isn’t it true, that it is His Will and His Word that should be fulfilled in us?’ Consider Abraham, is he not the model of the father of the children of Israel? Did he not circumcise all that were of him and with him. And in the revelation of the Lord Jesus, we know that we are to be circumcised in the Holy Spirit, and not in flesh, as Paul has explained.

May be one should consider that the Lord’s prayer "The our Father". That it is the answer to the Prayer in and of itself. For if we walk in that prayer alone, you can not help but walk in Faith and do the work of the Father as Jesus has taught. If you look at all the work and writings of the Apostle Paul you can see that "The our Father" is Paul’s walk. And did not Jesus give the daily bread, the Word of Life to anyone who cared to know. And did He not forgive everything that was before Him that many were healed amongst many other things. Consider what the perfect Jesus has to forgive you on a daily basis just to be present with you, that you may live with Him, or be in His presences.


I am sure we all fall way short in, forgive to be forgiven. Therefore there is Grace. That we may learn again to forgive. To forgive to be forgiven is truly the work that can not be done without the Lord Jesus. And if we do not tolerate, and do not condemn, but forgive, then surly we would be a peculiar people of the Lord our God. For the world tolerates for it’s own interests, and condemns for it’s own interests, but those that forgive, forgive because it is God’s First Choice to Forgive. Therefore the work is in His Grace and no other.

__________________________________________________ ______
In the case you speak of, we can try to tolerate others, and that is by our own strength, and not the power of forgiveness, and then those thoughts of condemnation come in to play, and Anger proves it so.
(Believe me, it is a work in progress, and expect to forgive every day)

Needless to say what I have learned the hard way is that you can not change the world, but you can change what those in the world value. Up lifting and Glorifying the integrity of our Lord Jesus Christ in His infinite Mercy and Truth can do that, for it is not our virtues that are to be seen by others, it is His virtues.

It’s kinda like there are those who sing "praise the Lord" and there are those who praise the Lord.

If you praise some one, you talk about his virtues, because you not only know them, but you have seen them for yourself.

[tt1106]

Hi Christian_lady. Why do you NOT feel joy when evangelizing? Have you thought about it?
Paul says in 2nd Corinthians:
to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?

Paul is talking about how none of us are sufficient without He who strengthens us.

John 15:11-13
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

Blessings Sister.

I pray you fell God's joy and the peace of the spirit within you.