What does the word joy mean to you? How does one experience it? How do you obtain it? How do you maintain it?
When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:10-11
Reflection
Jesus gave us a way to experience joy. It seems straightforward. Obey His commandments, and you remain in his love. He obeyed the Father's commandments and remained in the Father's love. Doing that produces joy. Let's dig into that a little.
When we sin, how do we feel? At the moment, we may experience the pleasure that sin brings. We might experience some relief or perhaps a rush. If we are God-oriented, shame creeps in on that initial feeling. If we aren't God-oriented, I suspect we will keep moving on.
Though we might be God-oriented, feel that shame, admit our sin, and promise not to sin again, we find ourselves sinning again. The cycle starts, and we find ourselves back in the same place. Maybe through a different sin, but we are back in that place. Where is the joy in any of that?
Why is joy such a big idea anyway? After all, won't that lead to complacency? Won't you be taken
advantage of time and again? That might be what happens, but it's different. To me, joy is a place where it's a feeling that radiates all over you. It is hard to explain, but I'll try. When a child succeeds at something, especially an infant, their face shows it all. When an athlete performs an exceptional task, all that hard work comes together in that moment. When a performer sees and experiences a crowd's reaction to what was just accomplished. That overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, peace, and even perhaps some tranquility lifted. That's what joy feels like.
So how do you feel that way as often as possible? Jesus tells us very clearly. Stick within the guardrails, those commandments that He and God put out there, and your joy will overflow.
But what about the hardship that happens? Joy is possible even during the tribulations that occur in our lives. That sounds hard to agree with. It is. But when you are centered and connected with God, trusting and surrendered to His will, the feeling that all things will be okay is exceptional. In the greatest of difficulties knowing and feeling that God is with you. That this is a moment in time and another moment will come. That moment might be here in this life and most certainly in the eternity to come.
Joseph is one of the best examples of remaining in faith, sticking with the guardrails, and weathering the tribulations in life. At the end of that obedience to God, he is trusted to lead Egypt through a terrible time. He can reconcile with his family and come to the end of this life knowing that he made a difference. That God trusted him and needed him to be the faithful man he was.
There are plenty of stories in the bible of people going through times of hardship. That required sacrifice and faith in God that He has the right plan, and our part in that plan, through our obedience, produces joy, and we get some dividends of joy along the way.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the words of Jesus. Thank you for the reminder of how one can navigate this life, handle hardships, and still find joy in all of it. Please help us navigate the ups and downs. Please help us remind ourselves that we are to enjoy what we have and not what we don't. Help us remain faithful and ever-growing in our connection to you. Finally, please keep us, our families, and our friends safe. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Comments