Your baby’s smile. The sparkle in a lover’s eyes. Achieving a long sought after goal or the return of a loved one from some distant place. Maybe it’s a simple card or token of appreciation, “just because”. All these things cause the heart to flutter and warmth to permeate our being. We beam with delight, filled with a sense of euphoria that makes everything right in our private world. The Thorndike-Barnhart Dictionary defines this feeling as “happiness”- gladness, bliss, outward rejoicing. These feelings, however, are temporal and the emotions associated with them can be eradicated with the slightest change in circumstance.
Contrast this emotion with the joy that endures all situations, that is inward, and that defies understanding. This joy is the fruit of the Spirit, evidence of the Heavenly Father’s love. Divinely appropriated, it embraces the attitude that all is well even when there seems to be “no rhyme or reason to the madness” of many of life’s situations. It births the ability to smile when tears seem more appropriate. It promotes a confidence which causes us to look upward rather than outward, to offer praise and thanksgiving in the direst situations, and to know (deep down in our souls) that trials are temporary but God is always in control!
Nehemiah 8:10 proclaims that “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Thus, the difference between the two types of joy is our focus: the first is on happenings; the latter is on a Person. The key to real joy is being:
The Bible records many instances of people who experienced this kind of joy. Paul and Silas set in a dark cold prison cell under lock and key, but at midnight (the darkest part of their affliction) they sang praises unto God. Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions, yet he rested soundly throughout the night and was delivered unharmed! Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were cast into a fire so hot it consumed those who threw them in yet not only were they preserved, but they enjoyed the very presence of God! Time and space limit the specific testimonies of others, but they all testify that “in his presence is fullness of joy” (Psalms 16:11).
As you go through the trials of life, focus on the One who loves you with an everlasting love. You are precious in his sight, and he will not allow the “floods (overwhelming circumstances) to overcome you” nor “the flames (intense situations) to kindle upon you” (Isaiah 43:2). Be assured that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b). You are safe in his hands. Rejoice in knowing that he cares for you. Exercise the gift he has placed within you:
A well-known song admonishes us to “forget about yourself, lift up holy hands and worship Him”. The less we focus on our circumstances and the more we focus on Him, the greater our joy. The greater our joy, the greater our witness. So again I say, rejoice in the Lord, always!
