True joy

What is joy? What does it feel like? What does it look like? What is it? The first entry from Merriam-Webster online dictionary says that joy is: "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires." To be honest, I don't like this definition of joy. It makes joy sound superficial, like we can only experience joy when we have things that we desire. That is not at all the case. 

In my opinion, joy is more than just an emotion or a feeling. It goes deeper than that. Joy is a lifestyle. Joy is a state of being. I have seen too many people, dirt poor, who experience joy to believe that joy comes from gaining some material thing that you desire. Yes, sometimes we can get joy from these things, but like I said before, joy is deeper. 

I am a firm believer that we can only experience true joy when we have established an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Anything apart from Jesus is fraudulent. Nonbelievers can feel happiness, but they can not experience true joy. This kind of joy can only come from the Father. 

Don't get me wrong. If you are a Christian and you know true joy, this does not mean that you show it outwardly all the time. This does not mean that you never feel down-in-the-dumps. You will have days when you really don't feel joyful at all. However, like I said, I don't believe that joy is just an emotion.  

Joy is finding out that you or a loved one has just been diagnosed with a terminal disease such as cancer yet still choosing to praise God despite the circumstances. Job said it best in Job 1:21 (NIV), "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." Joy is realizing that what we are given in life comes from God, and He has the right to take those things away from us. Yet even if He chooses to do so, He is still to be praised, and we are still to rejoice in His name. Even if everything - our family, our friends, our possessions - was taken away from us, knowing and experiencing God is more than good enough. That alone is cause for joy. 

Let's go back to Job. This man had everything bad happen to him. He lost all of his life-stock and land. All of his children died. His wife basically abandoned him to suffer alone. He was afflicted with painful boils on his skin. His friends blamed him for all of these hardships. Despite ALL of this, Job understood that God had a plan. God had not forsaken him. God was still there in control of everything. 

The bridge for the song "Blessed Be Your Name" goes like this: You give and take away, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, LORD, blessed be Your name! Joy is a choice. And sometimes it is not an easy choice at all. It is easy to be happy and joyful when life is good, when everything is working out, and when you aren't experiencing hardships. But how easy is it to rejoice in the Lord when life is handing us lemons? When we get bad news, when we lose a loved one, when we are struggling with an addiction, when we are alone and afraid? How easy is it to feel true joy in moments like that? It's not easy. But we choose to do it anyway. We actively choose to feel joy in the Lord. Because all that we are given is a gift from Him. As Lord of the universe, He has the power and the right to take it all away. We are not entitled to anything. 

Paul writes in Philippians 4:4 (NIV), "Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" The fact that Paul repeats himself shows us how important it is to rejoice. Notice that Paul doesn't say to rejoice when everything is going great for us. He says to always, always, always rejoice. No matter what! Whatever life is throwing at you right now, you still need to raise your hands and say like Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. BLESSED be the name of the LORD!" 

I will admit I sometimes struggle with being joyful and with making that choice. There are days when the last thing I want to do is praise the name of Jesus. But I have to remember to do it anyway. Sometimes just saying, "I praise You, Lord" over and over is enough to start changing my heart. Eventually you get to the point where no matter what, you can still praise the Lord. In Nehemiah 8:10, we see Nehemiah telling the people that the joy of the Lord is their strength. When we rejoice in the Lord, He will give us strength to endure and press on.

I challenge all of us, including myself, to actively experience joy in our lives this week. Make that choice to rejoice in the Lord and in His goodness. Whatever you are facing, He is greater. Give Him praise and honor. Let yourself experience true joy. Let it flood into your heart and pour out through your actions, your emotions, your lifestyle. "Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"