April often brings welcome springtime rain here in the
central valley of California. Nearly every time I hear rain fall, I think of a
song from a record (a vinyl record!) that my parents played for me when I was
little. It was an album recorded by the “Medical
Mission Sisters” – I think that music from nuns was welcomed in our very
Protestant home due to the popularity of The
Sound of Music, but I digress. The
song is called “Joy Is Like The Rain.”
Joy for Christians, like rain in the central valley, can be
elusive. Joy is often confused with happiness, and yet in drawing the
distinction between happiness, which is emotional, and joy, which is a gift
from God, we tend to make a false promise that we will always have joy. This presents a problem when, for instance,
we sense the deep sorrow of grief in which there is no joy. Joy is independent of our feelings, yet we
feel it: deeply satisfying, full of
praise and energy, even euphoric. How can we experience more joy in our lives?
Joy is linked closely to worship. In Psalm 33:3 we read, “Sing to Him a new
song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.” (NASB) In Colossians 3:16 we read that we should
sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts. Gratitude cultivates joy in the heart; so
worship, when focused on God and His desires can bring joy to our spirits.
Joy comes after adversity.
One of the lines in the Sisters’ song is “joy is tried by storm.” In Psalm 30:5 we read, “Weeping may go on all
night, but joy comes with the morning.” (NLT)
The psalmist expressed joy after victory was won (Psalm 27:6), and all
through the Scriptures we see joy expressed in the midst of trials. In 2 Corinthians 7:4 Paul says, “I am
overflowing with joy in all our affliction”, and James invites us to consider
our trials as pure joy. Joy is a choice
that we must make, even though we might not experience it at the time.
And here’s a tough
one! Jesus told us to be joyful if people mock, deride, criticize, and even act
violently against us for His sake: “Blessed
are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your
name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the
prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23, NIV)
Joy comes from the Holy Spirit. It’s listed as the second “fruit” of the
Spirit in Galatians 5:22. So, if we’re
rooted in the Spirit through the Word and prayer, we can expect that joy will
be borne in our lives. Joy can be triggered by praise and dampened by
self-absorption, pursuit of creature comforts, and traditionalism, among other
things.
But joy – pure joy – is known in its fullness in God’s
presence. In Psalm 16:11 the psalmist
writes, “You will make known to me the path of life ; In Your presence is
fullness of joy ; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (NASB) I hope that as you come before the Lord in
worship, and as you worship through your daily life, you will pursue His
presence, for that is the surest way I know to experience joy. May He fill you with joy as you earnestly
seek Him.
