Joy

A Godly Woman's Adornment

Good News Publishers

Contents

Joy in Going Forward

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

MATTHEW 13:44

The man in Jesus' parable was no fence-sitter. He had found the kingdom of heaven — the rule and reign and love of God through Jesus Christ — and he was overjoyed. The wonders of it made him want more and more, and his whole life became about acquiring it. He gave all he had to get more than he could even imagine.

Such self-surrender always leads to joy. No matter what we give up for the sake of Christ and knowing God better, joy is going to result. Initially, it might not seem that way. The man in the parable had to sell all he had in order to buy the field. The time of sale is usually where we are tempted to stop. We find the kingdom of heaven, but we don't go all out to possess it fully and to let it possess us. We want Jesus but not necessarily costly discipleship. We want a kind heavenly Father, but not a disciplining one. We want our character bettered but not transformed. We want the benefits of Christianity without the cost, a price we must pay if we would go the whole way into the Christian life. Knowing this about us, Jesus said:

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt. 10:34–39)

The man in Jesus' parable did just this, and what he acquired was far better than anything he gave up. Fence-sitters can't know the joy of the man in the parable. Holding back is a joy killer. Why do we cling to the possessions and desires and personal dreams that hinder our possessing the kingdom of God more fully? Some of us do so because we aren't convinced that what we will gain is worth whatever we will leave behind. Others hold back because the pain of the loss just seems too great to bear. We cannot imagine how we will survive without that certain relationship or plan. It feels like death. That's because it is death. It's the losing of our lives that Jesus was talking about.

When we are facing the death of self, the costliness of discipleship, we are likely to pull back unless we remember the promise we have been given about how it will all turn out. The man in Jesus' parable wound up owning the field. And Jesus said that those who lose their lives — all the earthly things they lean on for happiness and security — will find what they have been looking for all along. God will see to that.

Joy in Repentance

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

NEHEMIAH 8:10

Sin brings misery. There are no exceptions. Ever. Experience has shown us all how true this is, but we continue to sin anyway because we think that somehow, someway, this time will be different. This time we will escape. This time things will go our way. This time we will be able to manipulate the circumstances to bring us the outcome we hope for. We buy into the lie again and again, but even when we turn from God, he never turns from us. He is faithful to his unfaithful people. That's why Nehemiah, the governor of Israel, told the Israelites not to be grieved.

The hearts of the people under Nehemiah had turned away from God. The bad choices they had made over a long period had led them where sin always leads — to discouragement, loss, and feeling distant from God. (Sin never produces anything worthwhile in our lives.) But when the people heard God's Word, they were deeply convicted of sin. They were done with excuses. They had ignored the Lord and hurt him, and their awakened awareness of it brought grief to their hearts.

We grieve after we sin, too, but there is a difference between the grief of consequences suffered and that of having hurt the Lord. Only one leads to repentance. The old saying is true: being sorry for sin means being sorry enough to quit. If we are sorry primarily because our sinful choices don't work out very well, we aren't really going to quit. We will just change our tactics.

Repentance means turning around and going the other direction. It involves an active cutting off of all that has come between us and the Lord. Feelings of grief may or may not be present, but holy action will be, and as we step out in real repentance, we will find that we do feel sorry for how our sin has driven a wedge into our relationship with God. The Israelites had reached this point, and they were weeping over what their sin had done. But it was just at this point that they were surprised by joy.

Joy is the last thing we expect when the fact of our sinfulness penetrates our hearts. We know we deserve to be miserable, and so often we are tempted to wallow in misery as a way to prove how sorry we are or to try to get back in God's favor. But God doesn't want wallowing. Wallowing actually has more to do with us than with God: "Oh, Lord, my sin is so very bad. How could you love someone as bad as me?"

Instead of wallowing, godly grief embraces grace. We forget our own badness and look at God's kind heart and willingness to forgive. We look away from ourselves and toward the cross, where our badness was crucified with Christ. It is not our sin that wins the day, but God's mercy. That's why Nehemiah told the people not to be grieved. Now that they had repented and made a wholehearted commitment to turn back to the Lord, joy was theirs. They were to look away from their sin and even from their sorrow over it — away from themselves altogether — and find the joy of renewal, hope, and confident trust that would strengthen them in their way.

Are you discouraged by sin? Do you think you have forfeited joy forever because what you have done is so bad? Don't linger there. Turn back to God with all your heart, and you will find that joy is right there awaiting you.

Joy in Rejection

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

ACTS 5:41

She's one of those Christians," we might overhear after rolling our grocery cart past neighborhood acquaintances in the canned goods aisle. What about us stands out as distinctly Christian so that others know it about us, even if they do not know us very well personally? It's good to be singled out as a Christian because we exude joy. It's not so good if we are the only ones on the block who darken our homes and refuse to answer the door on Halloween. Too often we get caught up in trying to look Christian rather than trying to be Christian. Even when we do stand out for reflecting Christ in a winsome way, not all our neighbors are going to like us. Some will hate us all the more, as Paul made clear: "We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life" (2 Cor. 2:15–16).

The most joyful women I know are those most involved in serving others. No matter who likes or hates us, joy comes from living for something beyond ourselves. That's why, all through the book of Acts, we see the apostles rejoicing in the midst of horrendous difficulties. Their joy in life wasn't contingent on how well things were going personally or on how much people liked them; their whole reason for living was to spread the good news of God's love in Christ Jesus. In Acts 5 we read that they were arrested for preaching the gospel. The council decided to beat them and then let them go. Afterward, we are told, "they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name."

When was the last time we rejoiced at suffering dishonor for the sake of our faith? Sooner or later, we are going to be rejected for our faith by a neighbor or a family member or a friend. We might lose a job because we bear the name of Christ, or experience ridicule at work because we believe. We understand such rejection as the persecution Jesus promised all who follow him, but to rejoice at it like the apostles did? That's another story. How were they able? It wasn't because they were super-Christians. It's because they were so completely sold out to Christ that nothing mattered except him. Suffering? Great, so long as it meant they were associated with Jesus. Blessing and prosperity? Bring it on, so long as it meant God would be made more visible in their lives. God was their overarching purpose, which is why the apostles were always joyful.

The extent of joy we know is the measure of how sold out we are.

Joy, No Matter What

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

PHILIPPIANS 1:12

Paul had no idea what he was getting into when he responded to Jesus' call on the Damascus Road. At the time of Paul's conversion, Jesus said about him, "He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:15–16). Beatings, imprisonment, hatred, and loneliness were par for the course on Paul's missionary journeys, and eventually he suffered a martyr's death. Yet even if Paul had known his destiny in advance, he would have followed Jesus. That's because from the moment he met his Savior, Jesus became his life. When trials crashed in on him, he was not crushed, because he viewed everything that happened to him as an instrument to advance God's kingdom. That's why he was joyful during the setbacks, disappointments, and difficulties.

Do we link joy and difficulty as Paul did? The joy we find in trials most often comes after the fact. When a rough season has passed, we are glad that God showed his faithfulness in delivering us once again, and we are joyful for all God has taught us as a result of it, but rarely do we find ourselves joyful while still in the midst of it. We may turn to God as soon as a crisis hits, but more often than not our first cries are for relief. "Of course that's what we do! It's only human," you might be saying. It is human, and besides that, God wants us to pray for relief. Surely Paul prayed for relief from his troubles too, but relief wasn't his primary concern. First and foremost in his heart was the advance of God's kingdom. That is why he was joyful. He had no idea if his circumstances would work out so that his life could flow along comfortably, but he knew that God's kingdom would advance through the outcome, whatever it was.

The reason we lack joy in our trials is that we are set on an outcome that will make our lives easier. What does Paul's outlook reveal about God? If Paul suffered so much yet retained his joy, it tells us more about God than about Paul. It reveals that following God, no matter the cost, must be worth it.

Also, when we cling to Christ in faith during hard times, others notice. It's easy to express our trust in God's love when all is going smoothly, but he is doubly glorified when we express it during seasons of pain. We might agree with all this in theory, but when the chips are down, in the midst of perplexing difficulties, we are more often characterized by fear and doubt than by trust and joy. But our moments of doubt and discouragement do not cancel out God's power; he is much bigger than that. It isn't human to rejoice in suffering; it is supernatural. God is glorified not by calling strong women but by giving his strength to weak women.

Maybe you are suffering right now, and you are tempted to wonder why God doesn't deliver you sooner from your painful or perplexing situation. One reason is that God has promised to use our suffering to give us a greater capacity for joy. Paul's suffering, although extremely painful, didn't bring him down for long, because he wasn't concerned for himself. How joyful we could be in times of trouble if our primary focus, our top priority, is what God is doing through it — for us, for others, and for his glory.

If we are in the midst of a difficult season, are we willing to rejoice and to view it as an opportunity to see more of God's power and goodness? Being called to suffer is actually a privilege. Each trial is a gift. It's a chance to know God's strength and supernatural joy and to show that following him is worth everything.

Joy in God's Place

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.

1 CHRONICLES 16:26–27

We always — every moment, without exception — pursue what we believe will make us happy. For some it's a particular relationship. For others it's a certain home. For still others it's a career path. Whatever it is, we devote ourselves to getting it, pursuing it with all our energy and every resource we have. We are certainly free to delight in the material and relational blessings God brings us, but if we believe our happiness is dependent on them, it's because, whether we realize it or not, we don't really believe God is enough for us.

We say that God is enough, but the fact that we hover and worry and fret when our goals and hopes don't pan out proves otherwise. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6:21). How do we respond when something we value is taken away? Do we cling to Christ in our sorrow or disappointment, or do we resist him and set ourselves on a determined course to prevent the loss or recapture it? Our attitude toward God in life's ups and downs is always the most honest depiction of what we really believe.

We will never ultimately find the happiness we seek in anything this world offers — even the good things — because we have been wired to find it in God alone. Joy is found only in God's "place," wherever and however he leads us deeper into his fellowship. Joy — biblical joy — is one way for us to know if we are dwelling in God's place. Godly joy springs from living in harmony with God, having a mind set on pleasing him. If that underlies our pursuits, we are in God's place.

If we insist on defining and establishing our own place, we won't find joy, nor will we ever get to where we think we want to go. James Boice wrote:

If you think you are going to get rich through a job that excludes God and a Christian witness, God will let you get close enough to the wealth to taste it but then keep it just beyond your grasp. If you think you are going to become famous in show business and are willing to leave the commands of God behind in your upward scramble to get there, God will let you get close enough to know and envy others who have made it but keep you an unknown. Do you think that God will not do this: That He is too "kind"? I tell you that God will do it. He is faithful to His nature and will not allow the one He loves to be destroyed through an adulterous infatuation with this world's idols.

God's place is first place, whether it be in our relationships, our homes, or our jobs, and he will reign there only if he reigns supreme in our hearts.

Concerning all the varied details of your life, are you dwelling in God's place or your own? Joy, or lack thereof, is a way to know. Joy is always present where God reigns supreme.

Joy in Thanksgiving

Do all things without grumbling or questioning.

PHILIPPIANS 2:14

Paul's command might not seem too difficult until we consider what "all things" actually entails. Have you grumbled about the weather lately? How about a sore throat? We might feel convicted when we grumble about the little daily inconveniences, but we feel justified in complaining when the major crises hit. What else can we do when our husband loses his job or we get the news that our child has serious learning disabilities? But Paul meant what he said. "All things" means all things, because there is nothing — absolutely nothing — that touches our lives that somehow slipped through the cracks of his providential ordering.

When we grumble about the weather, we are arguing against God's ordering of creation. When we complain about illness or job loss or whatever it may be, we are declaring, whether we realize it or not, that God isn't handling our affairs very well. Complaining is actually a form of pride, which makes sense when we recognize its rebellious undertones.