Redefining Joy
What is Joy?
As someone who has experienced a lot of sadness, I think about happiness often. When I got saved and found that all my unhappiness didn’t just vanish, I began to think more about joy. The dictionary defines joy as: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. But no one is always happy so, that couldn’t be the kind of joy the bible speaks about. I looked to the word of God to help me and with the inspiration of the holy spirit, I’ve been able to redefine my understanding of joy. Sometimes we struggle so much because we set expectations based off of inaccurate understandings of the fundamental principles of our faith. I pray that reading this will spark a new level of understanding for you that helps you live more joyfully because I know that writing it did so for me.
You can think of this post as the prologue to my blog on Complex Joy (which you can read for a much mote personal take on joy)
In my humble opinion, I think that there are too many Christians out here living joy-less lives. I know that I was definitely one of them. Joy is not just a want, it is necessary for us to live the lives that God has called us to live. I’ve come to realize that joy is not something you have in one minute and suddenly lose in the next. It is a lifestyle and therefore, it does not require any specific circumstance, however, it does require intentionality. I believe that joy is a state of being that comes through the fruit of a life transformed by Christ. However, because it's a state of being, the reality of joy can slip in and out of our conscious awareness. For example I know that I am beautiful. That is my state of being. I may not always feel beautiful and I don’t often think about the fact that I’m beautiful but that doesn’t make me any less beautiful. I believe the same is true for joy. Don’t get me wrong, once you have joy you might lose it, but losing joy isn’t as simple as having a bad day. The loss of joy would indicate a massive lifestyle change, This is why even in a period of pain, people who have joy can always choose to bring it to their attention. Just as worship is a deliberate act designed to bring us back into an awareness of our salvation, gratitude is an intentional act that brings us into awareness of our joy. The ability to stop, step back, and reflect on my blessings no matter what is happening is the gift of joy. It is a skill that can be cultivated and practiced through mindfulness. I think the key thing to remember is that joy can coexist with a range of other emotions. I can be sad, tired, angry or apathetic while still living in joy.
Therefore, I believe that joy is intimately connected to memory. It often appears when we can look back at what we’ve gone through and yet be grateful that we’re still here surviving and thriving. However, the real joy masters have the ability to zoom out from what they're currently going through and understand that life is still good even though their situation may be bad. Happiness is in the moment so, it is as fleeting as a moment. (oop there goes another one) Where joy reflects on the way things are as a whole, happiness just thinks of the way things are right now. This is not to say that happiness is bad. Happiness is great but, it cannot sustain you. Oftentimes happiness is so zoomed into the moment that it can only see one nice color. Sadness is so zoomed into the present that it can only see one ugly color but joy zooms out enough to capture the beauty of the entire image. It allows the darkness to coexist alongside the light with the knowledge that when everything's said and done the picture will be worth it. That’s why I believe joy is divine. There is a reason why it is a fruit of the spirit even though it isn’t discussed as much as the others. (Galatians 5:22-23) It is impossible to perceive the full work of art that is creation and it’s stories without knowing the creator. Therefore, although joy is a choice, it is one that many don’t have the option to choose because they don’t know God. Because joy is a fruit of the spirit, there are those who have faith but don't have joy because they haven’t developed a proper perspective of the father.
I believe that is why Jesus’s brother, James could be so bold as to say “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2) He is not saying that we should ignore our negative emotions or think we have weak faith if we experience pain or sadness. He is not telling us to be blindly optimistic. If it sucks, you can say that it sucks. Joy does not inhabit a space outside of reality. Even Jesus wept. Because joy doesn’t mean happiness, the presence of joy is not predicated on the absence of negative feelings. Rather, by calling the church to have joy in hard times, James is encouraging us to have a proper perspective- a joyful perspective on our suffering. The proper perspective is one that says what’s in front of me now is not eternal, therefore, I can still be grateful to God in the midst of my pain. I can place what I’m experiencing in the context of the bigger picture. I must face the situation and emotions that are here right now but I know that they are temporary, and therefore they cannot overwhelm me. That is a mindset of joy.
With this understanding, it makes perfect sense that Brother Nehemiah said “the joy of the Lord is your strength”. We often hear that phrase and know it's in the bible but we don’t even know the full verse which is even more beautiful. Nehemiah tells the Children of Israel to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) If I’m keeping it real, I can preach a whole sermon on that verse but for the sake of brevity let’s just use it for context. The children of Israel had been standing up and listening to the word of God being spoken all day, they had begun to weep as they listened to the immense burden of the law. However, Nehemiah tells them not to grieve over the standard that had been set for them because they wouldn’t have to do it alone. The joy of the Lord, the proper perspective of his glory and love, the contextualization of their blessings, in the midst of their distress, would strengthen them to keep going. The mindset of joy would empower them when things seemed too hard. So we see that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” isn’t just some cliche phrase to encourage people when times are tough. It is not just the idea that we should simply be happy because Jesus saved our souls. Life is so much more complex than that. So be sad! Feel what you feel. But, never allow your feelings to make you forget that this too shall pass. It should be dealt with and processed but it shall pass. Your God is not a God that deals in feelings and forgets about realties. He sees you and he has a purpose for your pain. It is the memory of that fact that should trigger joy.
let's not even get started on the fact that joy is active not passive. Is not something that just happens to you. Instead it is a reality that you walk in with deliberate and intentional steps- Nehemiah says go enjoy yourselves, better yet serve someone else…
So this one goes out to those of us trying to do the soul work that’s required to live out joy. But it's also for those of us who aren’t there yet, those who just need to sit in the sadness for a little bit longer. God isn’t going anywhere. Even if he chooses not to change your problem, he can change your perspective. The joy is there and it's yours for the taking when you’re ready to grab it. Just remember, you don’t have to wait until you’re happy before you live in joy. This may be hard to believe but It is possible for joy to coexist with your pain. More than just being happy, living joy means being grateful. It is a fundamental perspective shift in which the holy spirit takes you from just seeing the color in front of you to finding glorious beauty in the masterpiece.