Joy
As I sit down to write the devotional, I reflect on the day I have just had and right from the start
of today, things got off to an awful start. From a crucial work project being postponed to a
tentative date, to my long pending holidays being sent to a dark hole also known as ‘we will
see’, it makes one think what is the joy that Paul speaks of when he mentioned it being a fruit of
the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.
If you google the word ‘joy’ you would see that it is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness
and this seems to be the common understanding of the word these days. Joy seems to be that
feeling when your football team wins a game or when you organise a social event with your
childhood friends and get to reminiscing about the good ol’ days. But when you read the story of
Paul & Silas in Acts 16 we see something entirely different : we see Paul and Silas being
persecuted (by their people) and physically tortured. Yet, despite the miserable circumstances
they find themselves in, we find them praying and singing hymns to God. They seem to have
this inexplainable joy that Paul refers to in Galatians. But how does one find joy like that when
things around are going wrong?
Later on, in the chapter, we get an insight into this mystery as we see that the jailer was filled
with joy because he believed in God for his salvation. There seems to be a positive correlation
between joy and a belief in God.
God has created us for one reason: to glorify Him. It is only in the fulfilment of this godly destiny
that we find true joy, in Psalms chapter 16:11 David says that he is filled with joy by just being in
the presence of God. For David, his joy came just by being in the presence of God and
experiencing the fulfilment of having fellowship with his eternal Father. This joy is much more
permanent; it is not based on the external fleeting factors, rather it is internal and finds its
beginning and end with God. No matter what may come our way, one thing is certain and that is
the love of the Father for us. How do we know this? Well, we need to look no further than the
cross where Jesus laid down His life and the Father turned His face from the Son He loved, to
restore the relationship between God and man.
Don’t get me wrong, joy is not something we can decide to switch on and it stays like that
forever. No, it is a conscious decision that we take to speak to our hearts in the good and
especially in the bad and say like the Psalmist “why are you downcast my soul? Put your hope
in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and God” (Psalm 43:5).
Application Questions
1. Where do you currently find your joy in? Do you find your joy in God or in the things God
has given you?
2. Zechariah 2v10 calls us to rejoice because God is with us. Are we enjoying daily
fellowship with God?
3. What practical steps can you take today to ensure your joy remains rooted in God?
Prayer
Let’s pray today that our joy would be firmly rooted in God and that we would not settle for the
lesser, more fleeting joys that do not last and instead fix our eyes firmly on Jesus; the Author
and Perfecter of our salvation.