How's Your Joy?

“You have put more joy in my heart than when the grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7).

Joy is an elusive commodity in our day. Would you agree? Somehow, over time we have confused happiness with joy. In the Bible these are not the same thing. The word “joy” as used in the scriptures means “gladness that comes from God.” I like that, for it says that joy is independent of circumstances because it originates with God as opposed to “grain and wine.”

Now any discussion of joy naturally leads to the question, “How’s your joy?” In other words, are you feeling God’s joy at this time or are you looking to external things to bring you a sense of gladness? In that light, what is it about God that brings us gladness? My response to that question is that the things God brings to us are far too long to list in a short space such as this.

I spent some time meditating on the things that God has done in my life to bring me joy. The list is long, but let me share the highlights. First, he saved me apart from any merit, ability, or power of my own. He took the initiative in seeing that I heard the gospel; and further, he enabled me to respond in faith. Second, he has been faithful to me ever since I came to faith in Christ. There has never been a time when I’ve felt alone, abandoned, or on my own. That does not mean there have not been difficult times. Rather, it means that no matter how difficult the circumstances may have been, there was never a time when I doubted God’s presence.

Third, he continually bears with my weakness. No matter how many times I mess up, his grace and mercy prevail. That astounds me because no one but me knows how much I mess up. And finally, he has given me a safe and secure future in his presence. There’s more to be sure, but those four things are joy producers, are they not?

Now with all of that in mind, I’m wondering how many of us are depending on things other than God for joy. We live in a culture that bombards us with the message that gladness and joy come from external things. Yet none of what has given me my greatest joy has come from externals. Rather, they have come from the inner blessings that only God produces, the things I identified above.

In light of these things, I would encourage you to take a look at your joy and the source from which you are seeking it. There are many things that bring happiness, but only God brings deep joy. And do you know the best thing about the joy he brings? He loves to make us joyful -- in him. Tell God this week that you long to feel the same joy David felt, the joy that surpasses the happiness that other things bring. Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with happiness. But joy is deeper and less prone to weaken when its source is God.