Sing for Joy!featured

We use the word joy frequently during the Christmas season.  This past Sunday we lit the joy candle.  We sing “Joy to the World.”  I think the yearning for joy, true joy, is hardwired into our DNA.  Who doesn’t want to experience joy?  During this season, we are often lured into thinking that joy comes with more lights and decorations, parties and people, perfect presents, abundant food and drink, more songs and dances and ugly sweaters, and on and on and on.  All of those things can be fun and cheerful and happy, but do they bring real joy?  How do we experience real joy?

The Psalms give us some great insights into joy.  Psalm 16:11 says, “…You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”  Psalm 86:3 tells us, “Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in You.”  It seems joy is a spiritual condition.  It is more than emotion although emotion often accompanies joy.  What is very clear is that God is the source of our joy.  Psalm 90:14 reveals that only He can provide the deep, satisfying joy that our souls long for; “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

So, is it as easy as saying, “God give me joy”?  My experience has been that joy is not a quick request but is a by-product of our relationship with God.  Romans 15:13 has this to say; “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.”  Trusting God is a key to joy. 

Trust is a very loaded word, it means that I trust that God wants the very best for me and that His plans are better than my plans.  It also means I trust Him enough to surrender my wants and desires and respond in obedience to His desires for my life.  Joy, the real deal, comes when we do that.  When we make Him our first love and our primary focus, joy is inevitable.  Jesus knew that.  He surrendered His will to His Father’s as it tells us in Hebrews 12:2, “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

I don’t know about you, but my trust and focus are a bit unreliable.  I think I have a bit of spiritual ADD (attention deficit disorder).  This time of year, I get distracted by all the holiday happenings.  I experience some happiness and fun, but it is fleeting and doesn’t satisfy that longing in my soul.  I get focused on me, me, me and I begin to trust in my own wisdom and strength and then wonder why I am not experiencing the joy I long for.

The thing is that once you have experienced the joy that comes with real trust and surrender to Him, you really notice when it is lacking in your life.  Christmas is the perfect time to remember that God loves us and wants us to experience His joy – joy that causes our hearts to sing.  Let’s take the time to remember that He sent His son to provide the opportunity for you and me to experience eternal joy with Him.  How can our hearts not sing for joy?

May God bless you and yours with a Christmas filled with the deep and abiding joy that only He can provide! [jetpack_subscription_form]