Daily Devo
Joy and Rest
By: Wendy Sanders
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Recently, I heard someone call this month "Maycember." I agreed, because even though it's only May, it seems to have all the busyness of December! Since my May calendar is already filled with events, I've been repeating this phrase over and over in my mind, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.”
But when we get too busy, it's hard to find joy in what we're doing. We're just checking off items on our "to do" lists and moving on to the next thing. Summer is rapidly approaching, so I'll be glad when the busyness of my own life starts slowing down a little.
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22–23
God loves us so much, He doesn't want us to be consumed by life's daily pressures. Instead, He wants to compassionately give us a fresh, new start each morning. Boy, do I need that right now! This verse from Lamentations reminds us to take time, slow down, and find joy in the Lord. He is where the strength for our day must come from!
Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
When life gets too busy, it can be hard to find joy. At times, it seems like we just need to rest. God has us covered in those moments! If we can’t find joy because we're overwhelmed, God says we must come to Him. We don’t need to do anything else; we just need to come to Him so He can help us rest.
God also promises to meet us right where we are. No matter the season, no matter the reason, no matter how we're feeling at the moment. The three verses above tell us God wants us to have joy, peace, hope, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It also says He won't let us be consumed, and He will renew us each morning and give us His rest. I don’t know about you, but those things sound lovely to me!
Christ follower, God sees you. He sees how busy you are, and He knows what season of life you are in. Come to Him so He can fill you with joy and give you His rest. May you always feel God's presence and know how much He loves you.