Joy?

Hey guys! So during our time in India, I wrote a message on joy and it just keeps hitting me again and again and I wanted to share a little about what the Lord has been teaching me about it before I get into what ministry in Nepal has looked like. I have some pretty cool testimonies from our time here that I’m super excited to share with you soon!

Something I realized in my time on the race is how often my mood and outlook tended to fluctuate. There are always going to be ups and downs in life, but I was having some really high highs and some really low lows. Since Nicaragua, God has been showing me the difference between joy and happiness. A lot of the time, they’re used interchangeably but they’re not the same thing. Happiness is an emotion. Joy is a choice. Joy is rooted in who God is (not just what He’s done), happiness is rooted in our current circumstance. Our situation doesn’t determine or change God’s character. And because joy is rooted in God’s character, our circumstances have no control over it. We live in a world that tells us to do what makes us happy and to follow our own desires. But if we’re constantly chasing happiness, we will never find contentment because it’s temporary and inconsistent. Joy is an action while happiness is a reaction. It’s something you choose over and over again. It isn’t passive. Joy is a mindset while happiness is a state of mind. There are three different people in the Bible I looked at who actively chose joy.

Paul is the author of Philippians, a book full of joy despite being written in a literal prison. This wasn’t false positivity or delusion from Paul, it’s a result of him keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus. “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear” (Philippians 1:12-14). Because Paul kept his eyes on the Lord, he was able to see God’s goodness in the hard times and see how He was using his situation for good. Paul served as an example for the church of Philippi and for us of how to face trials and calls us to rejoice with him. This is what it looks like to have a mindset of joy- valuing Jesus more than anything else because He’s the one thing you will never lose.

The book of Job begins with God speaking highly of Job and how much he loves the Lord. Satan claims that Job is only loyal to God because of how blessed he is on earth. The Lord then gives Satan permission to test Job and he suffers greatly. Job doubts and grieves but he always turns back to God and never curses him. Job wasn’t happy, but because he had God, he had not. You don’t have to be happy to hold joy and Job displays that joy isn’t circumstantial. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Because Job knew God’s character, he was able to trust that He was good even when his situation wasn’t.

David also had a hard life. He fought a giant, was almost murdered, etc. Many of the Psalms he wrote start off crying out to the Lord and end with rejoicing in God’s character. Psalm 22 is a good example of this. Having joy doesn’t mean you can’t feel grief. In his pain, David was still able to acknowledge and celebrate who God is which brought him joy.

And yeah that pretty much sums up my sermon on joy. I’m so thankful to have so many role models both in the Bible and in my life who have served as examples of how to live this out. Hopefully soon I’ll end up writing about Nepal since we only have a week and a half left (literally where did the time go??). That’s all folks!