"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Rom. 15:13
Here are a few more thoughts about 'joy'. It's got to be different than happiness. We intuitively know that while related, they are not the same thing. Happiness is this internal feeling or sense that we have that may spill over or not. It is not dependent on others nor does it necessarily involve others. Now joy is something different. I do not, nor can I have joy--just by myself. Here is a thought provoker I used this past weekend:
"joy is an internal response to an external reality
that produces a connection between both---
which uncovers a depth of reality that----
catapults us out of ourselves towards the other."
I cannot sit here and conjure up---joy. Its stimulus does not dwell in me. My experinece of joy is a reaction to something that has presented itself that is external to me. A creation experience that takes your breath away. The beauty and peacefulness of a newborn baby. A bride as she walks down the aisle. These things produce a response of joy. But it goes beyond just a stimulus--response. IN the moment of joy I have within me uncovered a fresh experience of a depth of reality I don't always acknowledge. It's because joy connects us to something outside of ourselves. My resources, my limitations, my small universe is exploded by joy because it connects me to the world, the resources, the possibilities, presented by what has brought me joy. It opens up for me a whole new world. Perhaps that is one reason that C. S. Lewis says that, 'joy is the serious business of heaven.' Joy is all about connecting us to something--someone greater than our own tiny world.
A corollary that goes along with this is:
The repetitiveness of joy is-----
dependent on the external source
and the attitude or expectation of the internal.
In other words, whatever brings you joy--can it keep producing? The answer is no----if it is finite. If it is God who is filling you with all joy--then the answer is Yes becuase God is unlimited and does not, nor can He run out, of the ability to produce Joy in you.
The only thing that may thwart the experience of joy that God seeks to fill us with is our attitude and lack of expectation. We may dim the response or miss see the stimilus. For instance, for one the beauty of a baby becomes the fear of its crying or the anger of its bills. The joy of a bride may deteriorate to fear or, 'oh my gosh, what have I done?' In other words, the central insertion in the middle of our memory verse (Rom. 15:13) is huge---'as you trust in Him'. God can and is able to continue to fill us with all joy BUT our attitudes and expectations in relationship to Him
are an integral to our experience of that joy.
If this is so, how then do we come to experience joy? Think about it!
I think it makes God's heart SO glad to see joy that He has produced in our lives. Think of that special gift that you KNEW someone would just love! You went to great lengths to get it for them, and you could hardly wait until the "prescribed" moment came that you could present it to them. You knew that they would absolutely love it. You watched with great anticipation as they untied the ribbon, and removed the wrappings. You watched the "Wow" come across their face, and you knew they LOVED it! Suddenly everything you went through to give that gift was totally worth every penny you spent, every inconvenience you went through to get it. To me, this is how I picture God's response to that deep down joy He gives us.
ReplyDeleteHow do we come to experience joy? I think we have to stay connected to God. I think He needs to be closer than the very air we breathe. As we embrace Him and allow His very Presence to permeate the core of our being, we see Him. We get to know Him. We begin to know His ways.
Somewhere around Rom. 5:3-5 (Msg)"...patience and virtue keep us in alert expectancy for what God is doing next..." If we are EXPECTING God to do something in our lives and seeking Him for help, when He gives it, it produces joy. I do think that "expecting" is a key to joy. If you never made yourself available to receive that special gift, it seems to me, it would be harder to get it. Kind of like not showing up at your birthday party!
I think that the fact that God cannot (nor does He want to) run out of the ability to produce joy in us is SO astounding. Is that totally cool, or what?!!!
P.S. I think the worship service Sunday morning (2/14) was INCREDIBLE!