JOY IN THE LORD
Jenna Worsham
Today's Scripture: “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Philippians 4:4, NLT
Theme: Always be full of joy. Always.
ALWAYS?
Shirley Temple singing “Be Optimistic” is cute, but it isn’t always me. It isn’t most of us. There’s a difference between optimistic, happy, or energetic (all of those I can fake for a time) -- and joyful. Joy doesn’t have to be loud. Joy doesn’t have to be energetic. Joy doesn’t have to make us feel giddy, although sometimes it might. Some English translations say “rejoice;” some say, “be full of joy;” others “celebrate joyfully.”
This passage clearly instructs us to choose joy, not resign ourselves to it. I am not continually joy-filled on my own. The only way to have unconditional joy is when God provides it and I choose to accept it. For believers, God is present within us. He is the fountain of joy, applicable in all circumstances. His joy never runs dry.
YO TENGO GOZO – I'VE GOT JOY
“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy ... down in my heart.” “Yo tengo gozo, gozo, gozo, gozo... en mi corazón.” I learned this song in Spanish to teach elementary-aged kids during a week-long Vacation Bible School-style camp each morning of a student trip with Azusa Pacific University. The van ride to the kids’ neighborhood was bumpy. I had to watch the road because I get car sick easily. Once we arrived, the sewage situation was a “muddy” stream down the middle of the dirt road. The smell was terrible. My stomach hurt from nausea and sewer smell. Yet we were singing about joy with kids who already seemed joyful in pretty difficult circumstances. I’m still not sure if I was teaching them about joy … or if they were teaching me.
A STINKY CAST
Later in that same trip, we were assigned to build a fence up on a hill. It was a simple project with poles in cement and wire strung between them. Before the trip, I had broken my ankle. I had a blue cast with an ugly, open-toed medical shoe to go with it. The cast was already dirty from playing soccer in the street after singing “Yo tengo gozo.” Mixing cement with a shovel, carrying five-gallon drums of wet cement up a hill in the midday summer sun, with a cast, through the desert shrubbery, was dirty, sweaty work. I did not have proper footwear. A prickly stick poked into my cast and scratched my foot. At the end of that day, I tried my best to clean my grimy toes and body with baby wipes.
Finally, it was my day to go to town for Banos (pay-as-you-go showers). Yet rather than being able to wash thoroughly, I had to put a bag over my cast to keep it dry. I didn’t feel excited about my situation or smell. But I remembered: “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice” (Psalm 51:8, ESV). God’s presence provided joy.
NOT MY PERSONALITY
Some of us are naturally more upbeat or energetic than others. Personality traits do not manufacture joy. Joy is available to anyone, of any personality type or bent, who is willing to submit to God. Joy is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22), provided by God to His people. Energy can be aggressive or ambitious. Joyfulness is never predatory or sinful. Joy is a choice. We can be freshly rested or bone tired and still choose joy. We can be naturally melancholy, have low energy, or be clinically depressed, and yet choose joy. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy” (Psalm 126:5, ESV)! Your ADHD or OCD or Autism doesn’t exempt you from a joy-filled life. There is no disability that excludes you and no ability that gives you an edge. Your personality is irrelevant to whether or not you can be filled with joy. Jesus’ example shows how even when pressed, over-tired, or troubled, He looked to the Father and received joy.
JOY IN HIS PRESENCE
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, ESV). If you want joy, seek it from the source as Jesus did. When His feet were grimy, when He walked long distances, when He was facing the cross, He still chose to be joyful. His friends were often immature and tiresome, yet He was patient and joyful. Jesus often withdrew to spend time with God because there He (and we!) find “fullness of joy.”
Circumstances get us down. We aren’t naturally joyful; we don’t feel like it. That’s okay. Joy is more than an involuntary response to stimulus. Joy is a voluntary surrender of control and understanding. It doesn’t always make sense to us, yet our joy sets us apart when we submit to God’s direction and allow His joy to be our strength.
Make It Personal: What about your personality or circumstances may prevent you from having joy? Pray with me and let’s go to our unlimited Source of joy.
Pray: Lord, help me to seek Your presence and joy in every season, situation, and circumstance. Thank You for being the provider of all good things. Help me to reach past my own limitations for Your leadership in this area. Please use me to encourage and bless others. Help me to bring Your joy wherever I am because You are with me. I submit to Your instruction in this area, and I thank You for it. Amen.
Read: Psalm 20:5, 35:27, 63:7
Weekly Memory Verse: “The the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6b, NIV