Faith to Joy to Faith to Joy
I know I've quoted a lot from Piper, but this is just so beautifully relevant (isn't that just how God works? He gives us Scripture and messages that are perfectly relevant - He does this all the time, we just have to be paying attention!)...
"Joy in God is both the root and the fruit of faith. We find the hidden treasure first. Then we venture all on it. And year after year in the struggles of life we prove the value of the treasure again and again and we discover new depths of riches [ie, knowing Jesus] we had never known. And so our joy grows. When Christ calls us to a new act of obedience that will cost us some temporal pleasure [first of all, we must know that He will provide a way], we call to mind the surpassing value of following him and by faith in his proven worth we forsake the worldly pleasure. The result? Joy! Deeper than before. And so we go on from joy to faith, and faith to joy, and joy to faith again." (p. 55)
Philippians 4
It's the only way we can be free - knowing and desiring Him, and knowing our need for Him is where we start. Bless the Lord!