May 14, 2020
Over the years I’ve heard the explanation that happiness is circumstantial while joy is not. If your circumstances are good then you can be happy. But if your circumstances are bad then forget it. Joy, on the other hand, transcends circumstances. This means that even in bad circumstances, you can experience joy. Let’s grant this explanation. It makes a good point. But it still begs an important question. If joy is independent of circumstances, then what does it depend on? How does one experience joy? And here I would like to encourage you with an article by John Piper. He describes joy as accessible though not without a fight. In a fallen world we have to be like an athlete and fight for joy. How? Here are fifteen applications rooted in the Scripture:
How Shall We Fight For Joy?
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-shall-we-fight-for-joy
Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift.
Realize that joy must be fought for relentlessly.
Resolve to attack all known sin in your life.
Learn the secret of gutsy guilt - how to fight like a justified sinner.
Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see God for who he is.
Meditate on the Word of God day and night.
Pray earnestly and continually for open heart-eyes and an inclination for God.
Learn to preach to yourself rather than listen to yourself.
Spend time with God-saturated people who help you see God and fight the fight.
Be patient in the night of God's seeming absence.
Get the rest, exercise, and proper diet that your body was designed by God to have.
Make a proper use of God's revelation in nature.
Read great books about God and biographies of great saints.
Do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others (witness and mercy).
Get a global vision for the cause of Christ and pour yourself out for the unreached.
The Lord created us for joy. And He graciously provides us a pathway in Jesus. He is sovereignly working for us toward this end though not without human responsibility. Let us fight hard for joy as we depend upon Him. Psalm 16:8, 11, “8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken… 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Amen!