The Journey to Joy: Choosing God's Will in Entrepreneurship and Life

Dr. Delphina Joyce Avila, founder of JOY ~ Journey Options YouChoose®, embodies a profound understanding of joy that goes far beyond fleeting happiness. For Dr. Avila, joy is not simply an emotion, it is a spiritual and personal decision rooted in the gift God gave every person, free will. She defines joy as “journey, options, you choose,” a lens that frames how she lives, leads, and chooses surrender over self will, again and again.

Dr. Avila’s journey to this revelation was deeply personal and transformative. In 2006, she learned the meaning behind her name, Delphina Joyce. Delphina traces back to the Oracle of Delphi where divine messages were delivered, and Joyce means joy. Learning that her name carried the meaning “messenger of joy” became a holy invitation, and she began praying, “Okay God, if I am a messenger of joy, what does joy really mean?” That question did not remain theoretical. It was tested, deepened, and clarified through suffering.

In 2009, Dr. Avila was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. When her thyroid was removed, doctors intentionally allowed her body to become starved of thyroid hormone so her body would absorb radiation therapy. She described that season with striking honesty, she was exhausted because you need your thyroid to live. She could barely get up to shower. Even going to the restroom felt like a major task because her systems were shutting down. It was in that place of physical weakness and emotional vulnerability that she encountered one of the most defining spiritual moments of her life.

She described what felt like a dream or nightmare, where she was fighting, but not against a person, against misery, sadness, depression, and darkness. In the middle of that fight, she heard Holy Spirit say, “Stop fighting. Stop fighting. Let me. Let me handle it.” That moment reshaped her faith. She learned dependency in a way she had never learned before, and the truth of “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” became real because she could not do it on her own. In that same season, she recognized something that became part of her life message, many people do not truly live, they exist. Her fear was not only the illness, it was losing the will to live, because she could see how hardship, chronic pain, and hormonal shifts can push people toward despair.

After cancer, another battle emerged, dependence. Dr. Avila shared that she must take medication every single day, and without it her body will die. She remembers resisting that reality. She did not want to be dependent on a pill. She did not want to feel dependent on the medical field. But she recalled Holy Spirit responding with love, almost like a smile, asking her simple questions that reframed everything, “Can you breathe,” “Do you have water,” and then reminding her that she was already dependent on God for everything.

“Baby girl, you’re already dependent on me. I give you your oxygen. I give you your water. I give you your food. I give you everything. You don’t have to worry about being dependent on the medical field. I take care of you, and I will take care of you.”

That reassurance did not minimize her reality, it anchored her. It turned dependence from something humiliating into something holy, a reminder that God was providing through every means, including medicine. For her, it was a pivotal moment of surrender, “I am yours. You are mine. I will care for you.”

Although her calling never left, she returned to her safe space, education. Dr. Avila has spent over 30 years in education and leadership, and later earned her doctorate. Yet even in those spaces she found that people were drawn to her. They came for prayer, love, and someone who would truly listen. Ministry flowed naturally, but she struggled with a deep internal tension, the expectation that you must keep “state and God separate.” She described the friction of knowing who she is as a child of God, and also feeling the pressure of professional boundaries. She yearned to live more freely as who God created her to be.

That prayer for freedom opened a new door, entrepreneurship. She joined a brand new for profit organization and helped expand it from one state to 30 states. She remembered sitting in her home office, pulling out chart paper, and asking the president to write out the vision, page after page. She described holding that space as sacred, believing that if it was meant to be, it would be, and later watching those written plans unfold. When the organization grew and she was no longer needed, she did not see it as failure. She sensed Holy Spirit reminding her that her calling still remained, and the door closing was God redirecting her toward what He originally placed inside her.

Dr. Avila also shared how God gave her visions early on, including seeing herself on a stage speaking about joy, and even speaking in Spanish to multiple audiences with clarity. She believed it fully when she first saw it. But life brought major change, including moving from a 21 year marriage into a new season of singlehood. She described how God had prepared her financially for entrepreneurship, but the greatest challenge has been internal, right here. The battle has been staying anchored in trust through time, change, and the vulnerability that comes with being seen. Still, she does not want to be stuck. She wants to arrive at the day she meets the Lord and hear, “Well done, daughter.”

For Christian business leaders, Dr. Avila offers guidance rooted in what God placed on her heart, three women from Scripture. 

Esther for courage, because entrepreneurship requires courage, hard conversations, turning down what is not aligned, and staying obedient when God is your employer. 

Ruth for loyalty, because money can pull, and leaders must know who they are rooted to, choosing faithfulness in small things and staying loyal to God above all.

Abigail for wisdom, because words and actions matter, and leaders must seek wisdom in God’s Word rather than relying on intelligence alone, remembering Solomon’s drift through pride and compromise.

Dr. Avila’s story is a testimony that joy is not the absence of hardship, it is the daily choice to surrender your will to God’s will. She described offering God her day each morning, asking for guidance, discernment, peace, patience, and trust. And in this season she has also become intentional about stewarding her body, even choosing to exercise before opening her computer, because she recognizes that obedience touches spirit, mind, heart, and body.

Her life reminds us that joy is not shallow positivity. Joy is the God given power to choose surrender, to keep believing, and to keep moving forward in obedience, even when the journey takes longer than expected.