October 16, 2010
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Who Stole my Joy?
Ever have someone “steal” your joy? Ever have a situation steal your joy?
“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. John 16:22
Could this really be true? Once we’ve seen the resurrected Christ, no one can steal our joy? Surely this can’t mean that “no one will take your joy away,” can it? If you’re anything like me, people steal my joy all the time. And I’ve met the resurrected Christ. So what gives?I’d like to suggest that no one actually steals my joy. I give it away. I choose to take my eyes of the amazing gospel that is taking me to where God wants me. And I choose instead to put those eyes on the bothersome or evil person that has “stolen” my joy. Instead of setting my mind, my heart, on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, I set my mind and heart on what I’m not getting that I want, or what I’m getting that I don’t want. And away goes my joy.James puts it another way: “Count it all joy,” he writes, “when you face a variety of trials.” Count them joy? Count stuff I don’t like as joy? James goes on: “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Did you catch that? There is an eternal purpose that God is pursuing in my life with each trial I face. James tells me not to just see the trial, but to also see the eternal purpose that God is intending.So no more giving my joy away. No more allowing trials to knock joy out of my hands. I’ve seen the resurrected Christ. And because God raised Him from the dead, I know that God’s promises to me are just as sure as can be.Father, it is so easy to get into pity parties over the trials that people and situations are to me. Help me see the work you’re trying to do in my life through those trials. Help me see your faithfulness as a Father to grow me up. Let me shine joy, even in the worst of times. For your glory. For your reputation.
