“I Don’t Know What Makes Me Happy Anymore”

Myth: Joy will just magically show up when life gets easier.

Truth: You have to pursue it like it’s worth finding again.

There comes a point in certain seasons, especially ones filled with caregiving, chaos, or chronic stress, where you stop asking, What do I love? and start asking, What’s the next thing I have to get done? Productivity hides play, and things just don’t feel . . . fun.

But joy doesn’t disappear overnight. It fades quietly under piles of laundry, to-do lists, and emotional fatigue, and eventually, you wake up and realize, I’m living my life, but not really feeling it.

Oof. Ever been there? Are you there now?

If that’s where you are, here’s what I know: You’re not broken, you’re likely just disconnected from delight. But joy is not a luxury for a calmer season. It’s a lifeline for the one you’re in.

Joy is worth searching for! It’s not just for when your schedule clears but especially for when it doesn’t. It’s not just for when life gets easier but especially because it’s not easy now. It’s not just for when the messy things become less messy but especially because they’re messy. Because a soul without joy doesn’t just feel sad. It feels numb.

And here’s the good news of grace: You don’t need to overhaul your whole life to get your joy back. You need to notice what makes your heart spark again, even just a flicker.

That flicker of joy you feel—it matters. It may be small, quiet, barely there, but God never asks us to ignore it. He asks us to fan it into flame.

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6, esv).

He’s not talking about faking joy or forcing feelings. He’s talking about stirring up what God already placed inside you. That flicker—the spark of joy, creativity, passion, calling—it’s in there. It may be buried under exhaustion or fear or apathy, but it hasn’t gone out. And it wasn’t given to you for a season—it was planted in you for endurance.

Paul goes on to say, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, esv). Which means you’re not left empty-handed when life gets heavy. You’ve been equipped—not with perfection, but with power. Not with performance, but with presence.

So if you’ve forgotten what brings you joy . . .

If you’ve been living on autopilot, feeling dull, distant, or stuck . . .

Let this be the holy nudge: It’s not too late to fan it back into flame.

You don’t need to know exactly what it will become. You just need to start where you are. God delights in meeting you there—not when you’ve mastered joy, but when you humbly say, “I want it back.”

Let the flicker rise.

It can be a song that lifts your chest, a walk that clears your mind, a memory that stirs you to laugh. It can be a minute in stillness, one uninterrupted meal, a whispered prayer that reminds you: God’s still here.

Joy is both a gift and a skill. And God delights in giving you the gift, but He also partners with you in the pursuit. You don’t have to settle for survival. You were made for delight too.

A few things to ponder:

• When was the last time you felt genuine joy or delight? What were you doing?
• What practices or patterns have numbed you lately?
• Ask God to bring one thing to mind today that makes your heart come alive.