A couple of weeks ago, I was running some errands, and as I was driving through the shopping center, I saw a sign sticking out of the grass next to the sidewalk. It featured a Christmas tree and the words “Joy to the World.”
My first thought was to chuckle at a sign that was still up more than a month after Christmas. But then a different thought entered my mind: “Joy to the World” is a message we need to hear all year long.
In our modern culture, we often confuse joy and happiness, but there’s a difference. Several years ago, I wrote here at PJ Media that “Happiness is temporal and circumstantial, while joy is sustained.”
Of course, joy is part of the fruit of the spirit, and the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible tells us that joy is both a feeling and an action. Joy is so hard to define that the author of Hebrews even tells us that Jesus’ crucifixion was an act of joy.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
It’s weird to think of the gruesome, horrifying experience of the cross as an occasion for joy.
A Betterman devotional unpacks that seemingly inexplicable joy:
What joy? Future joy! Jesus’s sacrifice was for future glory:
- Jesus went to the cross for the joy of pleasing His Father.
- Jesus went to the cross for the joy of purchasing a people for His own possession.
- Jesus went to the cross for the joy of providing a covering and cleansing for His people’s sins.
- Jesus went to the cross for the joy of establishing a kingdom of perfect righteousness.
Related: Sunday Thoughts: How Should We Approach Suffering?
I’ve written before about how God’s Word calls us to have joy in suffering. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” Jesus’ brother James wrote in James 2:2-4. “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The Apostle Paul wrote that we are to “rejoice in our sufferings.”
So joy is necessary in bad times as well as in good times. David Mathis holds that joy isn’t optional. He writes:
One reason the Bible is so relentless in insisting on our joy is because of the goodness of God. The imperative to joy in us is based on the indicative of good in him. “You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you” (Deuteronomy 26:11). Joy in the heart of the creature corresponds to goodness in the heart of the Creator. Joy is the fitting response in the receiver to the goodness of the Giver.
It might seem like a tall order to conjure up joy, but Jesus’ advice to His disciples is our ticket to joy.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:9-11 (ESV)
Paul has a prescription as well:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:4-8 (ESV)
If you’re having a tough time finding joy in your life, abide in the Lord. Stay steadfast in reading His Word, in prayer, and in Christian community. Obey Him. Focus on the good things that He brings. It’s not always easy, but joy can sustain you no matter if you’re in good or bad times.
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