A few weeks ago at a Bible study with some members of my squad, someone suggested that we each choose a fruit of the Spirit on which to focus for the last month of our trip. If you aren’t familiar with the fruit of the Spirit, they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. My first instinct was to choose self-control, which makes sense because my battle against sweets is rather half-hearted.
But instead I chose joy. Joy was never something I made a priority to seek in my life and I wanted to know more about it and what it truly meant. In addition, I had a bad cold and I hadn’t been feeling particularly joyful. I wasn’t able to do the ministry I loved, I couldn’t exercise, and I felt terrible. So I seized on the chance to find joy in my life.
I learned a long time ago that there is a marked difference between happiness and joy, and yet to most people the two are synonymous. Happiness is usually short-lived and circumstance dependent. A good meal, a praiseworthy accomplishment, or a gift from a friend can make me happy. But that feeling, for it is a feeling, can easily disappear with an unexpected change in circumstances. It is nonsense to say that I could be happy after losing a loved one. Happiness is great, but it’s usually only on the surface level.
Joy, though, is a different story. Joy does not concern itself with the turbulence of our lives. It is centered in the promises of God. It is deeper, stronger, and all-consuming. Happiness demands a cause and effect relationship, but joy, once planted, is everlasting. Joy is not a feeling; it is the assurance of hope. I have only to think for a moment on the beautiful story of love God is weaving in my life and I am flooded with joy.
Last week we spent a day at the beach. Along with a couple of friends, I rented a boat and a guide for a few hours to go island hopping. Let me set the scene for you: islands of odd shapes were scattered across the vibrant turquoise water. Each island was a tropical hill of green ending in cliffs that had been worn away so that there were overhangs all around their circumferences. Huge white clouds filled the sky and the hazy bluish mountains of the bigger islands shimmered in the distance. I sat in the front of our thin teal spider boat getting soaked by spray and blasted by the breeze, a massive grin taking up permanent residence on my face.
As we passed under the overhang of one island, almost close enough to touch, the flight of two birds caught my eye. And then in one of those surreal moments that overwhelm me sometimes, I took in the entire view and stopped myself. All that I learned about joy came back to me as I truly experienced it. In such an incredible landscape I could almost hear the soundtrack echoing in the background and it occurred to me that the whole world is a vastly elaborate and intricate dance of joyful praise for the Lord.
It didn’t matter that I was sick. All of my worries and insecurities and bitterness fell away in an instant because I was enraptured by the awesomeness of my God. True joy is to see God and know that all this beautiful world was created just for us. For you, and for me. My Father crafted that glorious scene over billions of years simply so that I could gaze upon it and wonder.
My time on this trip is drawing to a close. I think about home often and when I do I’m often overcome by lists of what I need to do and prepare for and all the turmoil happening in the States at this time. I know that when I go home there will be days when the sun-tinged skies and palm tree enveloped islands of the Philippines seem a world away. But I am determined to find joy wherever I go, whether that is halfway across the world or in my own bedroom. That’s my point – it doesn’t matter where I go or what’s happening to me; I carry God’s promises inside of me and that’s all I need to be joyful. I simply remember my Father and the whole world becomes positively tinted with His unfathomable joy.
