The Strength and Beauty of Joy
Sometimes, life may require us to do things that are not joyful, but hard, tedious, time consuming or stressful. Or we may find ourselves in a dark valley where our hearts are weighed down by heavy burdens, pain and sorrows that are like dark stormy clouds blocking the sun. These times, seasons and activities can be exhausting and take so much attention and life from us that JOY seems to be smothered by the demands, burdens and cares. It is in these times, in this place and these seasons we must dig deep to find and draw forth the precious gift, strength and beauty of joy; to choose joy, to fight for joy… to be joyful… to keep joy set before us, to create joy and discover joy in our midst, in the midst of the unjoyful.
I heard a quote in the last year, I’m not sure who said it, that went something like this: some people wait to by joyful or hope for joy when the hard times are over or passed, the victory won. But others create and choose joy now, in the midst of, and in spite of, the hard times. I have discovered if and when we do the latter, it makes the hard thing we are doing or experiencing more bearable and the path we need to follow clearer. Joy makes us stronger. It is healing. It is the instrument by which we draw water from the unending well of salvation (Isaiah 12:3 – “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”) Salvation’s well is full of grace, mercy, love, deliverance, truth, wisdom, power, help, victory, health, prosperity… every blessing of abounding grace and love. When recently reading about Joy on the website www.preceptaustin.org I found several good descriptions of Joy; Joy is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but is God’s gift to believers in Jesus. Joy is an inner depth of assurance and confidence, and inner gladness that ignites a cheerful heart. Joy is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord God.
Joy is a part of God’s very essence, it emanates from Him. Jesus said “these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you (John 15:11) and He prayed to the Father that “… they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, it is spiritual in nature, and as in all Spiritual gifts, it is received in the heart by faith. Even though it is a gift, sometimes it is buried in the midst of the dark mire we find ourselves in. Faith presses us to dig deep to discover this precious gift and to fight for it because it is precious and life-giving. We receive and feel joy in the presence of God (in your presence is fullness of joy – Psalm 16:11) and we are filled with peace and joy when we are believing and trusting in Him. (Rom 15:13)
Joy sees past the darkness, the pain, the difficulties, and rests it’s gaze on what is not seen with the human eye, but with the heart of faith. Jesus for the joy set before Him endured the cross. What was the joy that got Him through the horrific agony of the cross? He was gazing at your face, He saw my face, saved from eternal death and separation from God. He saw me and you reconciled to God forever enjoying, and drinking from, a sweet, unbroken, loving, unending union with Himself… Jesus had the joy of love that would gladly give all to save the one He loves… for a life they would be able to live filled with peace, love, joy and hope resting in the heart of the Father. We are His joy… and in Him we find our joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength and joy changes anything we are going through into a joyful, hopeful expectation of His goodness and blessing… working all things for our good. We meditate and act upon what He has given us now, and on what is to come.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd and prepares a banquet table before us in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5), but not only in the presence of our enemies, but also in the midst of, in the presence of, all our difficulties, heartaches, losses, pain and strenuous challenges... and one of the items on the banquet table is JOY. Because that precious living joy is from Jesus, it is everlasting, unending and there is no measurement as to how deep and high it is and no limit to its growth and power within us. Even in the worse of circumstances or pain, we can find so many reasons to be joyful in Jesus. The more intimately we know Him, the more we discover and come to know that He is the well of salvation, He is the Good Shepherd, He is the banquet table and He is the way through whatever we are facing, and above all, He loves us with a love that endures and is everlasting and will never leave us. Yes, I’m smiling now. Enveloped in this beautiful, incomprehensible, amazing love, I can find joy in every circumstance and condition of my life. Even through my tears and deepest pain, I can find the sweet, beautiful fragrance of joy that, like a gentle, loving hand, wipes the tears from my face and fills me with deep assurance and hopeful expectation of God’s unending, healing love making everything OK. Everything is going to be alright.
