The joy of the Lord is your strength
Nehemiah 8:10
Joy is like a rainbow ribboning through grey weather to bow-tie waiting blue skies. Joy is so many things – comfort that lines our sorrow with a silver lining, the grand struggle to prove the gold mint of our faith, expectant hope which anchors us in God’s promises, desert experiences watered by the sweet oasis of God’s presence, refusal to give in triumphing against defiant odds, grappling in prayer and knowing God’s answer long before reality speaks, worship which defies midnight seasons by singing of God’s golden glory, outlasting time-bound battles with timeless qualities, the epic experience of mortal challenges aggrandized by colossal spiritual outcomes. Joy is far deeper than happiness. It is stronger, more complex, more meaningful, of greater enduring value.
Joy is expressed in many, different ways – in deep-seated laughter and eyes sparkling with mirth, in a bouncy gait or a dancing step, in praise and worship that overflows into spontaneous singing, in confident faith-filled speaking, in overwhelming waves of delight that leave us beaming, smiling and cheerful. Joy softens our features, gives our chin a lift, adds warmth to our voice, and kindness to our words.
Joy is what takes us through our rite of passage and what rewards us at the end of seasons of testing. Joy is in God’s approval and reward and also in the righteous character which patient enduring produces. The Bible encourages us to take heart from the example set by Jesus himself: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:2-11).
Acceptance of suffering is not a philosophy which favours masochism, but rather a celebration of the great good which can come from pain leveraged by faith – like a crushed olive bringing forth the oil of joy which keeps midnight lamps burning. As Paul taught, the process of daily taking up our cross is one which promises deep personal development: “… we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God … we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:2-5). Joy and suffering are twin sides of the same coin because endurance produces something more valuable than worldly wealth – righteousness minted with godly character.
Walking through trials in joy is all a matter of perspective. When we arrive in the next realm, which is timeless, the bitter experiences here will suddenly be seen to be fleeting. We can feel encouraged by Paul’s perspective: “Therefore we do not lose heart … For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory …” (2 Cor 4:16-17). Peter also expresses a similar sentiment:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9).
Joy is all about patience and delayed-yet-surely-coming gratification. For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross. He tasted the end long before he arrived there. He dipped into a glorious honey-pot of I-Have-Triumphed, and as his faith and obedience mixed themselves into God’s promises, He found the strength and grace to walk through intense suffering to the wondrously glorious reward which his Father had laid up for him. Joy is about going through a process to secure the ultimate prize; and what is that “ultimate prize”? …
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:15-30) tells the story of three servants and their master. Each servant is given a certain amount of money before their master goes off on a long journey. When he returns he rewards each servant according to what He did with the resources which He had so generously entrusted to them. Two of them were diligent about increasing what they had been given, being eager to please their master. The third one, however, being lazy, did not do anything with what he had been given and so it was taken away from him.
In the end, the master (who represents God) not only promoted the two worthy servants but also said to each of them: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21). In other words, promotion and material benefit aside, the ultimate reward is the master’s approval and the promise of joy indescribable in His eternal presence. This may seem trite in a world where reward tends to be material but no price can be placed on contentment, as we all know. In the next realm, though, being eternally in God’s presence means not only contentment, but indescribable, uncontainable, beyond-giddy, delightfully-overwhelming joy. As it is written: “in your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11)
Joy is a gold coin minted with suffering on one side and contentment on the other. Joy is a kin-fellow to many other qualities and spiritual resources – endurance, patience, strength, faith, contentment, thankfulness, prayer, worship and friendship with God. Joy is like honey. When Jonathan (Saul’s son and David’s best friend) tasted honey at a time of physical and soul-weariness, he gained immediate strength. The Bible explains that when he found honey in a wooded area, that “he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth and his eyes brightened.” (1 Sam 14:27).
Connected to this, the Bible teaches that “the light of the eyes rejoices the heart” (Prov 15:30). To take this a step further, in the Word, honey often represents the speaking of God. In Psalm 119:103 David exclaims: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” In the Book of Proverbs, his son Solomon echoes this sentiment as he advises his own son: “Eat honey my son, for it is good; / honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. / Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul” (Proverbs 24:13-14). So when we connect the dots, we see that hearing God’s voice, musing upon His Word and savouring His speaking brings joy by lighting up our eyes with insight or wisdom. Higher perception is the pathway to joy.
When we dip into God, one yummy treasure which we will be sure to find is this beautiful rainbow-hope delight called joy. Joy is honey-smothered contentment, joy is sugar-sprinkled delight, joy is God’s speaking colouring our times and seasons with sight.
Nehemiah 8:10
Joy is like a rainbow ribboning through grey weather to bow-tie waiting blue skies. Joy is so many things – comfort that lines our sorrow with a silver lining, the grand struggle to prove the gold mint of our faith, expectant hope which anchors us in God’s promises, desert experiences watered by the sweet oasis of God’s presence, refusal to give in triumphing against defiant odds, grappling in prayer and knowing God’s answer long before reality speaks, worship which defies midnight seasons by singing of God’s golden glory, outlasting time-bound battles with timeless qualities, the epic experience of mortal challenges aggrandized by colossal spiritual outcomes. Joy is far deeper than happiness. It is stronger, more complex, more meaningful, of greater enduring value.
Joy is expressed in many, different ways – in deep-seated laughter and eyes sparkling with mirth, in a bouncy gait or a dancing step, in praise and worship that overflows into spontaneous singing, in confident faith-filled speaking, in overwhelming waves of delight that leave us beaming, smiling and cheerful. Joy softens our features, gives our chin a lift, adds warmth to our voice, and kindness to our words.
Joy is what takes us through our rite of passage and what rewards us at the end of seasons of testing. Joy is in God’s approval and reward and also in the righteous character which patient enduring produces. The Bible encourages us to take heart from the example set by Jesus himself: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:2-11).
Acceptance of suffering is not a philosophy which favours masochism, but rather a celebration of the great good which can come from pain leveraged by faith – like a crushed olive bringing forth the oil of joy which keeps midnight lamps burning. As Paul taught, the process of daily taking up our cross is one which promises deep personal development: “… we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God … we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:2-5). Joy and suffering are twin sides of the same coin because endurance produces something more valuable than worldly wealth – righteousness minted with godly character.
Walking through trials in joy is all a matter of perspective. When we arrive in the next realm, which is timeless, the bitter experiences here will suddenly be seen to be fleeting. We can feel encouraged by Paul’s perspective: “Therefore we do not lose heart … For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory …” (2 Cor 4:16-17). Peter also expresses a similar sentiment:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9).
Joy is all about patience and delayed-yet-surely-coming gratification. For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross. He tasted the end long before he arrived there. He dipped into a glorious honey-pot of I-Have-Triumphed, and as his faith and obedience mixed themselves into God’s promises, He found the strength and grace to walk through intense suffering to the wondrously glorious reward which his Father had laid up for him. Joy is about going through a process to secure the ultimate prize; and what is that “ultimate prize”? …
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:15-30) tells the story of three servants and their master. Each servant is given a certain amount of money before their master goes off on a long journey. When he returns he rewards each servant according to what He did with the resources which He had so generously entrusted to them. Two of them were diligent about increasing what they had been given, being eager to please their master. The third one, however, being lazy, did not do anything with what he had been given and so it was taken away from him.
In the end, the master (who represents God) not only promoted the two worthy servants but also said to each of them: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21). In other words, promotion and material benefit aside, the ultimate reward is the master’s approval and the promise of joy indescribable in His eternal presence. This may seem trite in a world where reward tends to be material but no price can be placed on contentment, as we all know. In the next realm, though, being eternally in God’s presence means not only contentment, but indescribable, uncontainable, beyond-giddy, delightfully-overwhelming joy. As it is written: “in your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11)
Joy is a gold coin minted with suffering on one side and contentment on the other. Joy is a kin-fellow to many other qualities and spiritual resources – endurance, patience, strength, faith, contentment, thankfulness, prayer, worship and friendship with God. Joy is like honey. When Jonathan (Saul’s son and David’s best friend) tasted honey at a time of physical and soul-weariness, he gained immediate strength. The Bible explains that when he found honey in a wooded area, that “he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth and his eyes brightened.” (1 Sam 14:27).
Connected to this, the Bible teaches that “the light of the eyes rejoices the heart” (Prov 15:30). To take this a step further, in the Word, honey often represents the speaking of God. In Psalm 119:103 David exclaims: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” In the Book of Proverbs, his son Solomon echoes this sentiment as he advises his own son: “Eat honey my son, for it is good; / honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. / Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul” (Proverbs 24:13-14). So when we connect the dots, we see that hearing God’s voice, musing upon His Word and savouring His speaking brings joy by lighting up our eyes with insight or wisdom. Higher perception is the pathway to joy.
When we dip into God, one yummy treasure which we will be sure to find is this beautiful rainbow-hope delight called joy. Joy is honey-smothered contentment, joy is sugar-sprinkled delight, joy is God’s speaking colouring our times and seasons with sight.
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