Finding Joy

My wife made the comment that so few people have joy, including believers. We had just watched a movie where Meryll Streep played Julia Childs. Julia Childs was portrayed as this woman full of passion, love, joy, humor, and a certain abandon. My wife, Julie, set out to be a joyful person. She already has quite a head start on me anyway, her disposition tends to be one of being light-hearted. I know no one on the earth who knows that would describe me as light-hearted. I am so thankful to be married to her, because having two serious and intense people married to each other would make for quite a home atmosphere. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 we are exhorted to "...Rejoice always;", we cannot do this without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Joy is a Fruit of the Spirit, not a happy face you put on to cover up the hardship or difficulty in life. Having been raised in a home atmosphere of fear, anxiety, burden, discouragement, despair, failure, and hopelessness joy does not come naturally to me. I was once told by a godly woman that joy is a powerful weapon. In the New Covenant we have so much to rejoice about since we have been given everything "in Christ". Happiness tends to be fleeting because it is tied to happenings and let's be honest not any of us have perfect happenings. Besides the search for happiness makes us so aware of this earthly realm that we are apt to control everything around us or wish we could. So given that I don't have a natural propensity towards being a joyful person, it must be who I am as a new creature. God has some work cut out for Him to transform me into a joyful person. I know I have a propensity (fleshly) towards seriousness, intensity, discouragement, and depression. Much of what I received from my earthly family, my father struggled with depression til he finally committed suicide when I was 6 years old. Yet I am in a new family, this is in the dance of the Trinity and among God's people. So my prayer is open my spiritual eyes to see Your joy over me and your joy within through the Holy Spirit. This will truly be a miracle since it is totally contrary to the natural man. I know a big part is changing my thinking because I always learned how to lament and worry about the next challenge coming up. If you are always concerned for the future it robs you from enjoying the moment, each moment can be so rich when we are alive to God's presence and His work around us. Also I have found that perfectionism robs joy because it is easy to see how things could be better. I am so thankful that things in Heaven are perfect, complete, and brilliant. So if I keep my mind set on things above then I can always rejoice in what is beyond my expectations. I don't believe perfectionism is wrong just misdirected, we all have an inward sense that things are not as they were supposed to be ( a memory of the Garden of Eden). I am realizing that in order to find true joy I am going to need to become aware of the reality of being "in Christ" on a moment by moment basis, this is not something I can do in my own power but by the Holy Spirit. I need to have my mind renewed to see the reality of the Kingdom of God on an ongoing basis. As I reflect on finding joy, my children are a good example because I find joy in seeing them even when they are being irritating. How much more so does Our perfect Heavenly Father have joy in us, Zephaniah 3:17 tells us the Lord rejoices over us with shouts. Since the Father was delighted with Jesus, is it not true that since you are "in Christ" that He delights over you. Even in the midst of our problems and struggles, the Father is delighting to walk with us through these and do life with Him. We on the other hand just want to get over the latest difficulty, trial, or testing but are these not the places of intimacy with the Father. None of these are too much for the Father that has given us the power of the God in the gospel (Romans 1:16) to set us free in any circumstance. I pray that you would have your eyes open to how much He delights over you today right where you are.

In His Grace,
Bret