The Joy of the Lord
If you’re a user of Facebook or YouTube, you’ve probably seen videos of military service members who have been on deployments reuniting with family members. These are moments of pure joy and happiness. They seem to say, “everything is going to be OK now.” This type of joy is a wonderful mountaintop experience, but it is fleeting. It’s simply not possible to sustain such temporal joy, but there is another type of joy that’s eternal.
Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. –Karl Barth
Did you ever meet somebody you just knew was a Christian without being told? There are some people whose face and disposition simply can’t hide the joy of Christ that dwells inside them. Often, this kind of person will invite you to visit their church. Christians want to share their joy with others. They are thankful for the joy that dwells within. In Galatians 5:22, the Apostle Paul calls joy a fruit of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 2:3, Paul describes how he wants to share his joy with the people of the young church in Corinth.
Describing Christian joy to a non-believer can be difficult. When I was a young captain serving in the Army, I had a battalion commander who assigned me a special project. I listened to his instructions, but they weren’t clear to me. I asked specifically what sort of product he expected me to give him when I had completed the project. His surprising response was, “I’m not sure, but I’ll know it when I see it.” Christian joy is like that, you’ll never fully understand it until you’ve experienced it.
Joy may include happiness, but happiness is not a precondition for Christian joy. The Apostle Peter describes joy as gladness not based on circumstances (1Peter 1:8-9). Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:4, “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” Clearly, Christian joy does not depend on being happy. It is founded in the assurance that:
- Jesus has paid for all your sins, past, present, and future.
- You have been freed from the power of sin and can choose to obey.
- You live under God’s grace and mercy.
- You are an adopted child of God.
- You have eternal life.
- God knows you by name and hears your prayers.
- You are part of God’s church family and joined by the Holy Spirit to fellow Christians.
In Romans 15:13 Paul says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joy and peace are yours for the taking if you will put your trust in God today.
Doxology: To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. –Jude 1:24-25
Divine Simplicity 
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