Joy No Matter What
Who or what is trying to steal your joy? Joy-robbers abound!
Kids? Vehicle trials? Spouse? Work stress? Boss? COVID-19 restrictions? Politics? Physical health? Financial woes? Next door neighbor?
Your answer to this question will depend upon what kind of joy you have. Be honest. Which version of joy has the strongest foothold in your life?
Circumstantial joy that is humanly dependent and at the mercy of favorable conditions or positive circumstances in your life?
Christ-driven joy that is supernaturally dependent and unrattled by the unfavorable conditions or negative circumstances in your life?
The world’s kind of joy is an external effort focused on controlling circumstances, people, and things in order to experience happiness. God’s kind of joy is an internal gift of satisfaction that is sustained by the Holy Spirit and unaffected by ever-changing circumstances, people, and things.
God doesn’t command us to walk around with fake smiles on our faces, but He does command us to display His real satisfaction in knowing the Joy-giver. A joyless believer is a walking contradiction and an affront to a joy-filled God.
Remember these five helpful truths:
Conversion: True joy is a gift from God (Psalm 4:7: “You have put gladness in my heart”) and manufactured by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).
Confession: The most miserable person in the world is a forgiven believer without joy. King David confessed his sins and prayed: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Ps 51:10-12).
Closeness: To feed your experience of God’s gift of joy, you must stay close to the Joy-giver and Joy-sustainer. Psalm 16:11: “In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Compliance: Joy is not only a gift from God, but it’s a command to obey. You must willingly comply to maximally experience the fullness of this blessed gift. Philippians 4:4 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice” (see also 1 Thess. 5:16; John 15:10-11; James 1:2-4; Psalm 19:11).
Confidence: Joy is able to keep your head above water while in the midst of the storm. Nehemiah 8:10: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Paul recalls the counterintuitive ability of God’s joy “as sorrowful, yet rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6:16). Believers “rejoice in hope” (Rom. 5:2; 12:12) and that hope guarantees God’s promise to bring us home to see and be like His Son.
The key is “fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:3).
Pastor Jeff