Editor’s Note: This week I welcome guest blogger, Debbie Marks. Debbie has a degree in social work, served for 30+ in pastoral ministry alongside her husband, is an educator, leads Bible studies, and has been a retreat speaker. I’m excited for her teaching this week.
When I was a kid, growing up in church, there was a song we used to sing: “I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” Do you remember that song? As I got older, and more mature, I began asking myself of some of the people in my church, “How deep down is their joy? I think it’s lost.” They were miserable people. I think we all know people like this. Where was the joy? It seemed so deep down that it disappeared.
So let’s ask the question “What is joy?” In Margaret Feinberg’s book Fight Back with Joy (she wrote this book after being diagnosed with cancer) she says, “Joy is the hearty echo of God’s great love for us.” I love that definition! Whatever is going on in my life, your life, there can be an echo of joy that’s rooted in God’s love for us. In other words, God’s love is reflected in our lives no matter how good or bad it is at the moment. Kay Warren describes joy as “the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be made right, and the determined choice to praise God in (not for) all things.”
I think there are three basic reasons for our joy.
- Because God fiercely loves us. Jeremiah 31:3, from The Message, says, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!” What a wonderful promise – God will never stop loving us! He promises that his love will always be there; it will never end. He “fiercely” loves us. I looked up some synonyms of “fiercely”: “wildly,” “passionately,” “recklessly.” God’s love is not cautious or conditional, but freely given and it endures forever. That’s a reason for joy!
- Because God is present. Deuteronomy 31:8, from The Message, says, “God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.” God is ALWAYS with us. No matter what the situation or circumstance, He is there, right in the muck and mess of it all. He is with us THROUGH it, and that can bring joy because of knowing that God never leaves us to live life alone. He’s always got our back.
- Because God is for me. Romans 8:31, 37-39 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? . . .In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” NOTHING can separate me from God. How can that not bring joy?
Another question I’d like to contemplate regarding joy is how do we hold onto both joy and suffering at the same time? If you remember the beginning of 1st Thessalonians, Paul writes that the Thessalonians have joy even in the midst of their suffering (1:6). How can that be?
It’s important to note that nowhere in the Bible are believers encouraged to deny that adversity brings sadness and grief, but there’s recognition that in the midst of the most agonizing situations the presence of God, through His Spirit, can infuse the soul with hope and the heart with joy. This joy is deeply rooted in the good news of Jesus—we can have a flourishing life here and a future, eternal life with Jesus.
Frederick Buechner says, “Joy is a mystery because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances, even in the midst of suffering, with tears in its eyes. Even nailed to a tree.”
I’ve known this kind of joy, and it is a mystery to me. I only know that I experienced it because of my relationship with Jesus that nothing or no one could take from me. More on that in a post later this week.
Joy declares “But if God.” Sometimes God delivers us from, sometimes delivers us through, and sometimes there’s no deliverance, but God is ALWAYS present with us in the mess.
Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Adednego? As Nebuchadnezzer was getting ready to throw them into the fiery furnace for not bowing down to his golden statue, they responded in defiant joy: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand. But even if he doesn’t, we want you to know, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).
A side note: one of my favorite Christian songs from the 80’s was Russ Taff’s “Not Gonna Bow!” If you’ve never heard it before, I encourage you to listen to it – it’ll become a fight song for you.
How can our joy abound no matter what? Check back to the next post, and I’ll talk about that further.
Engaging Scripture 