The Joy of the Lord is My Strength
Test Your Joy Factor
The joy of the Lord is my strength is something I truly believe. If the choice of being happy was only based on my circumstances, my emotions would flow like a rollercoaster. Can you relate? This isn’t to say I’m always happy about life. However, I know where to anchor my hope, which allows me to feel God’s joy and gain the strength I need.
The following is another post from my attributes of God series I wrote some time ago. The series helped me understand God and realize what He really means by saying he came to give us life abundantly.
God is Happiness
When we think of happiness in our culture, it is when all is going well. However, most of us have lives where something is not going well. We base our choice to be happy on what is happening around us.
Happiness is far more than this. A few synonyms are contentment, satisfaction, cheerfulness, joy, glee, delight and well-being. I would say it takes all of these synonyms to truly understand God’s happiness.
Psalms 146:5 NLT
But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God.
Some versions have joyful instead of happy. Despite everything going on in life that is not making me feel content, I can still have a joy deep inside that nothing can take away. True Christians exemplify this inner joy because they place their faith in the LORD their God. It was the joy I saw in the true Christians I met and got to know that originally led me to God.
I like that God wants us to interact with Him in a full relationship that should surpass anything we can manage on earth. He is the source of everything and this includes the Law He made to help us understand right from wrong so we can learn how He intended us to live.
Proverbs 29:18 NLT
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is happy.
When we run wild from one thing to the next, we will not find contentment. We will feel restless without a steady place to be. We should have God as our rock, so we have an anchor in the stormy times that wants to take our peace away. Paul has this solid foundation and close relationship with God figured out.
Philippians 4:11 NLT
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little.
Even when he had little and got thrown into prison for following Christ, he knew how to get along happily. He had contentment in life, no matter what happened. I’ve found this with Christ even if I have days where God has to point things out so I don’t whine about life. Most times there is nothing we can do to change our circumstances other than changing our perspective . It takes time, but learning to see things the way God does makes for far better days.
The following are a couple more verses to meditate upon to help you understand God’s joy better.
Psalms 30:5 NLT
His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning.
Night represents time without God. Morning comes when we renew our relationship with God.
In Nehemiah 8:10 NLT Nehemiah told the people, “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
I especially love this one because the joy of the Lord is my strength. Without it, I lose direction and become discontent and sad like the people Nehemiah talked to upon realizing they had not properly followed God and His Law. As soon as we learn where we went wrong, we should repent and, if we haven’t already, accept Christ as our Savior and Lord. Then all this joy can be yours and you’ll have the hope and strength to endure anything with contentment.
My joy is not based on my circumstances. I’m not just happy right now because the life is going well. I’m also not moping around because of the random issues of multiple sclerosis. Even on the bad days, the joy wells up when I follow God’s direction instead of my own ideas, or the world’s.
Test the joy factor of your life. Does it persist even in the darkest of times? If it doesn’t, then it is time to stop chasing the loud, distracting noises and seek the quiet voice waiting to draw us into the source of unquenchable joy.