Joy, Joy, Joy - Count It All Joy!! (Part 3)

Previously, we examined the nuances of joy as we experience it on a daily basis. We also explored the importance of joy as it relates to our connectedness with each other. Today's message continues within the context of importance, focusing on the connection with our better self and our Creator. Additionally, we will spend some time discussing how joy is developed and the challenges we might face appreciating, accessing and cultivating joy in our lives.

Importance (continued)

How joy connects us to our better self. Joy can be transformative. Have you ever found yourself in a dilemma that looked like your whole world was spinning out of control? If you are reading this, I would guess that your world did not completely fall apart after all. What made it come together? How did you settle down? How did that feel, ultimately? I would count it all joy! I can remember times when I have struggled myself with one challenge or another that I felt duty bound to resolve on my own. This challenge was bouncing against everything else that was going on in my life, fighting for my attention, trying to gain some ground. Just the sheer presence of all these competing demands was excruciating. I told myself, I have to do this, and that, and that too! I must figure this out and make all this work. Well, I was wrong! This was a time that I needed to let go and give it to God and wait on the Lord to resolve the issue. When He did, there was a peace within me that reached down to my soul. Not only was the issue resolved, but I was also able to put it out of my mind knowing that I no longer needed to drag it around. I was able to shake that extra appendage that was weighing down on me and putting pressure on my heart. I was able to breathe again. Even though all was not exactly as I thought it should be, it was well. Being able to accept how things are relative to how I might have wanted them to be was joy in itself. I could experience joy in the midst of the turmoil because I had been released from the responsibility of taking care of everything waiting in line for my input. In recalling this, the message that dropped in my spirit was that perspective can be a real source of joy. Was I happy? That question did not come to mind. I was relieved that I had someone other than myself who was able to do all things, especially those things that I could not do myself and in the process made me believe that all really was well. I also was relieved that life affirming air could freely travel through my throat replacing the stress that was choking my sensibilities.

Through communing with the spirit, we are able to discover our better selves. One of the ways to do this is by accessing the peaceful, serene, independent joy that unburdens us from life’s ups and downs and sharing our joy with others. We have experiences in life that bring us joy that we might keep to ourselves. I would suggest that the moments that are most significant are those in which we are able to share this joy with the people in our life. Joy gives us strength by connecting to something other than our human self. Joy creates a path from us to a deeper consciousness that leads us back to the Creator. I can hear my brother, Rev. Paul D. Hall, Sr., saying: “God calls us to be humble in our joy for J-O-Y says – Jesus first, Others second and You last!”

How joy unites us with God. Joy gives us an opportunity to develop our relationship with Christ and become more like Him by teaching us how we should respond based on who we are in Christ rather than who we are in this world. We can be assured that it is because of His love for us that He even offers us the fruit of the Spirit. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23). With this assurance, we can boldly count it all joy when we face life’s challenges. Not that we will be jubilant in the midst of these circumstances, rather we understand that they should be placed in the “joy” column of life for they represent significant moments of teaching and development.

We must know and understand that the joy of our Lord is something that He gives freely as a blessing to His chosen people. Only He can give His gifts to us. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (John 1:17). The joy that He offers, along with His peace and love, are incomparable to what we might be able to do for ourselves. There is absolutely no comparison between what we can accomplish with God versus what we can do on our own.

Joy can be appreciated as a result of our sadness. It is a testament to the fact that we cannot completely enjoy the good without the not so good. When we have experienced trials and tribulations, the downside of life’s challenges, we understand what it is to know joy. Those things that plague us from time to time serve a purpose. We must have the fortitude to deal with these things – sadness, fear, anger – in a real way. When we face them directly and honestly joy, peace and power are realized as a by-product. They are not generated as a result of our wrestling with these issues. They are already in us as a function of being created in the image of our Creator. Another purpose of our trials is that we will appreciate the exhilaration we experience when joy brings life and light into our lives. When we have developed a relationship with Christ that enables us to express joy during life’s trials, we are no longer working within our own limited power and strength but are being led by the Spirit. Rejoicing during good times is easy. It’s a natural, human reaction to the many things in life that bring a smile to our face. Having the peace within and choosing to respond joyfully through tough times takes a higher level of spiritual maturity.

When we hear about the joy that is not of this world, we are talking about the joy of the Lord. This joy is not given to us by the world and cannot be taken away from us by anything of this world. This is the type of joy that is distinctly different from the happiness we feel over circumstances that are engineered by us or others. This is the type of joy that is not connected to any tangible or intangible machinations of humankind. It is not the kind of joy that is easily understood. We cannot duplicate it, we cannot reach out and touch it, we can only accept it and try as we might to cultivate it. Just like edible fruit, this joy must be pruned, and weeds (unprocessed emotions, resentments, angers, fears, losses, secrets, lies, fantasies, etc.) removed to allow the crème de la crème to rise to the top. As this is done, the best of the fruit of joy becomes exposed and available to not only enhance our spirits, but to share with others. Like a muscle, this joy must be exercised. We must use our “joy muscle” to compel it to grow. We have to work out the excess “fat” of this muscle, toning it up to be ready to take on whatever life throws as us. With our joy muscle intact as a weapon in our arsenal, there is not much that we cannot face with courage.

Development

When we contemplate how our sorrows might be turned into joy this might seem unnatural. How can we find solace in the same thing that has caused us pain? It would take a touch from the Creator Himself to make sense of this. We must learn to see joy in our most dire circumstances, cultivating joy on this level is only possible by the Spirit working in us through love and patience. I was invited to consider that when we persistently address our emotional baggage, rich soil is created to provide joy a place to grow, live and evolve.

We can trust and faithfully believe in God’s plan and promise to deliver us from our trials. It is a process that we must go through before this kind of trusting in the Lord becomes second nature. Every time we find ourselves in a quandary, we have to bring to mind that God promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. Remembering how many times God was faithful to His word, we should be able to develop more trust, more faith, more peace, more joy. Over time, this joy and our hope springs eternal and we find rest in His word. That’s joy right there!

Challenges

Our joy must be cultivated within our spirit. Each time we experience joy is an opportunity for us to duplicate that joy within ourselves as well as to share that joy with others. When we display joy, we emulate this emotion openly and that can be contagious. We love to see the way others appear to face life with ease. It’s the kind of envy that is healthy in that it is something that we desire that invariably will make our lives less stressful. It’s something we see as a positive thing that we want to duplicate. This is an element of the inviting presence of joy. The presence that inspires others to live better lives because of the joy they seek through the example of others.

When we cultivate our God-given joy, we survive challenges that we thought would get the best of us. We can face the next challenge head on, without the fear that we might have carried around in the past because we know that the Lord is faithful and will bring us through it again and again. What are some of the things that we allow to extinguish our joy, even momentarily? Things like fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and lack of faith. When we lean on the Lord and not our own understanding, all of these “giants” shrink down to size. With enough practice that size is infinitesimal if not zero. From this perspective, that looming dire situation is no longer scary. We can tackle anything, come what may, because we have been through the fire and came out on the other side like the three Hebrew boys, unscathed without any residue of the flames that were meant to burn us. As the Apostle Paul spoke of his contentment in his letter to the Philippians, let us be content regardless of the circumstances and we will learn to have joy, see joy, and experience joy no matter where we find ourselves. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (Philippians 4:11).

We will pause here for much has been covered on the subject of joy for your contemplation. The next and final installment will briefly discuss how joy might be expressed, will delve more into the Spirit’s role in accessing this fruit of the Spirit and will end with a joyful summary. Hope to "see" you there!

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your gift of joy. We are grateful for the peace and love that it brings as we draw closer to you. Your unspeakable joy is given freely to us and for that we thank you. Help us to not only receive this gift, but to appreciate it and learn to cultivate, reflect, and share your joy with others. We pray that you would give us the patience to accept trials and tribulations as a way to develop and nurture that joy that can be found even in this. We pray all these things in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen.