This morning I woke up wondering where my joy had gone.
I’ve been personally going through various names for God and today’s was “Refuge for the Poor” (Isaiah 25:4). I decided to read the entire chapter and “heard” the Lord in verse 9. “Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” The “rejoice” caught me because joy was something that I have been missing lately.
I’m a happy guy and really enjoy my life and consider myself to be remarkably blessed. I get to “fellowship” with a lot of pastors who would love to serve the River. I realize I have more to be grateful for than most people.
But something has not been right for a while now and I’ve interpreted events of life with a much more negative perspective than normal. I try not to unload on others (except a few select folks!), so most of my friends and church members probably would not have noticed; but I know it, and this morning it came to a turning point.
As I reflected on the word to “rejoice and be glad in His salvation”, it became clear that the object of my focus for joy had to be the Lord, and that He also is the Source of joy.
When David prayed in Psalm 51 he asked God to restore the joy of his salvation. God is the Source. When Nehemiah spoke to the people on their return to Jerusalem, he reminded them that the joy of the Lord was their strength. (Neh 8:10) God is the Source. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 that joy was the fruit of the Spirit. God is the Source. Joy is from the Lord. He is the Focus of Joy and the Source of Joy.
My continued reflection revealed how many other things have generated happiness in my life: family, paid bills, nice weather, peace, a good economy. My candidate or football team winning, a large offering, increased attendance, more baptisms, trips back home, music from the sixties, and well… the list of things that make me (or have made me) happy is pretty long.
But there’s a big difference in happiness and joy. Happiness is determined by circumstances.(Curt's opinion!) Happiness is here sometimes and gone at other times. God is the Source of Joy. Joy doesn’t come and go depending on circumstances. Joy is from Him and is rooted in Him, not circumstances.
So this morning, I prayed with David “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” Ps. 51:12 I also prayed for the many other people in my church and world who seem to have "lost" their joy as well. I prayed we would know You, Lord and that Your joy would fill us.
Just thinking...