I titled this “Choose Joy,” because having joy is our choice. We can miss it! Happiness is different from joy, because it comes from happenings. If good things happen, we might feel happy. But we can choose to be joyful even when our happenings (circumstances) are hard. There are even commands to be joyful, such as 1Thes. 5:16, “Always be joyful.”
Let’s look at some steps in the Bible for choosing joy. The next two verses of 1 Thes.5 (17 and 18) show us some of those steps. Verse 17 says, “Never stop praying.” Then the next step (verse 18) says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” We must pray to God to help us rejoice. We might not follow those steps in that order, but these are all things we do to fill our hearts with joy as God guides us. Even expressing grief can be a step towards joy. Yes, grieving and expressing any other negative emotion to God (fear, anger, confusion, disgust, etc.) helps us heal so we can get back to our joy. We work through those hard, painful emotions until they no longer control us. I’ve written about those processes in past posts like “Embracing Grief,” so you can look those up later if you’d like.
But today I want to concentrate on this wonderful fruit of the spirit, joy (Gal.5:22-23 lists the fruits of the spirit.) We can pray to seek God’s joy, and we can give thanks in all circumstances (1Thes.5:18), not necessarily FOR all the circumstances. For example, long ago I gave thanks, even while I had sprained my ankle. I gave thanks for the good God could do while my ankle was sprained—not necessarily that I had sprained it. I praised God in the midst of my painful circumstance.
Satan doesn’t want me to rejoice. Sometimes he distracts me with small problems like a heavy object falling on my toe. As I cry out in pain, I am tempted to grumble or even call the fallen object a mean name. Yes, I know inanimate objects can’t hear me call them names, but my flesh is still activated by my calling the object a mean name. I am still feeding my ugly (angry) flesh. My flesh wants to grumble and complain. I don’t want to feed that ugly flesh. So I stop while I am grumbling, or even catch myself before I can think a grumbling thought. Instead I praise God, changing my direction towards praise to ease away any fleshly anger. God is kind and good, and he helps to calm me.
As I was studying the Psalms, I recognized the opposite of joy—grumbling. I observed what the Psalmist said about the unrighteous and their lack of joy. Psalm 50:16-17 says, “But God says to the wicked, ‘Why bother reciting my decrees and pretending to obey my covenant? For you refuse my discipline and treat my words like trash.” Note these sinners refused God’s discipline. How are they refusing his discipline? We see they are sinners, but note what the Psalmist says just a few verses later (Vs. 23a), “But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.” So these sinners refused God’s discipline, because they grumbled instead of thanking God during the hard times God was using to discipline them. Yes, they also sat around doing other sins, but verse 23 is the summation of this entire Psalm, its last verse. God is very displeased with these sinners specifically for not giving thanks.
So please keep this in your heart—part of our ability to have joy includes our giving thanks, even in hard circumstances. This is why giving thanks is part of those verses in 1The.5:16-18. To be joyful requires our giving thanks, even in hard circumstances.
Joy also comes after we have repented. Look at Psalm 32:1-2, “Oh what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty.” Also look at Psalm 51:12,”Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.” Not only is our repentance a path to our joy, but look at verse 19 of this same Psalm (51:19), “Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit.” We bring God pleasure, too, when we repent. So we have joy and God does too.
Look at Psalms, 69:30-31a that says, “Then I will praise God’s name with singing and I will honor him with thanksgiving. For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle.” Note the verb, “please” and see that our praise brings God pleasure. Pleasing God, finding pleasure, being satisfied are all themes in the joy we find in the Bible.
Let’s jump ahead to Psalm 84:2b: “I will shout joyfully to the living God,” and verse 4-5a, “What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord.” The Psalmist is joyful, simply to enter the house of worship and then praise God.
When we begin to praise God, we find extraordinary joy. Look at Psalm 63:3, “Your unfailing love is better than life itself, how I praise you.” Then verse 5 says, “You satisfy me more than the richest feast.” This Psalmist is feasting on God, and he finds such joy, he bubbles over.
Another Psalmist does not overlook gratitude for the simple things he needed. Psalm 65:1-13 shows God doing so much to care for the earth. For example, verse 13 says, “The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy.” It is as if the earth itself is giving joyful thanks to God for his provision. Yet this is also a clue that we need to give thanks for God’s physical provision, so we can find that joy.
So far, I have spoken of emotional and spiritual ways of finding joy, but we can even find joy in physical pleasures. God shows us we can rejoice in what he gives us for food! Look at Psalm 81:16, “But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.” God wants to feed us really yummy food. So rejoicing when we eat tasty food is part of our celebration of joy. Here is the word, “satisfy: again in Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.”
Sometimes we just praise God for what he does for us and what he gives to us, such as Psalm 92:4, “You thrill me with all you have done for me.” And Psalm 103:5, “He fills my life with good things.” Of course we praise God for WHO he is, but at times we are so thankful for what he does, we want to give God specific praise for that too.
At times we are thanking God for food and other simple pleasures, such as Psalm 104:27-28: “They all depend on you to give them food as they need it. When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them and they are richly satisfied.” Please note the word, “richly” before the word satisfied. The Psalmist is not just consuming bread and water, but instead some really good food. Like him, we are richly satisfied when we eat really yummy food. This is the kind of food we eat and happily sigh after eating, because it is so satisfying. God is that generous. And if we wonder, “Are we just being glutinous to enjoy some of the yummy foods?” then let’s look at God’s response in this same Psalm, just 3 verses later (verse 31): “May the glory of the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made.” God gave his people food that was so yummy it was “richly” satisfying. And God’s response? He took pleasure in feeding these great foods to his people. God wants to please us. God loves to see us rejoice. He simply wants us to give thanks.
Some may say, “then eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” (1Cor.15:32) and these people indulge their flesh to excess. This is not what God is saying, and he clarifies it in the following verses (1Cor.15:33-34): “Do not be misled: bad company corrupts good character. Come back to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.” We enjoy the tasty food, not to excess, but with great joy. It is essential we see the difference between the joy and pleasure we have as we enjoy God’s great gifts, but do not indulge the flesh to excess. We can see that in verses like Romans13:11-14, Ephs.4:22-24, and especially in Gals.5:13-14, “You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather serve one another humbly in love.”
So we do enjoy what God has given to us. Look at Eccles. 9:7-9a, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love…” Even the jaded, sarcastic King Solomon admitted we should find joy and pleasure in our life. Note, he specifically spoke of food, lotions for our body, nice clothing, and even the passionate relationship with a spouse. God wants us to enjoy the physical pleasures of our lives, with joy, just not with over-indulgence.
We can use this word, “Joy” in practical ways. Please let me clarify. I decided I would employ this joy as I read my Bible. I have already shared (in my post “Fed on God’s Word, not a Check list”) that I have a huge spiritual hunger for God’s love. Every day I need to read or speak at least a few encouraging passages about God’s love. When I read passages about all the great things God does for us, I smile. And at times I consciously remind myself to smile while I read these encouraging passages. I know this might sound silly; how can smiling bring joy? Medical researchers can tell you smiling does increase our joy. These men were mapping the muscles that create frowns, smiles, grimaces and other expressions. For many minutes (or even hours) they had to hold the pose of whichever facial expression they were studying for the day. They found that they came home either in a good mood when they had been holding the smile on their face, or in a bad mood when they had been frowning, or scowling.
Please understand, forcing a smile when you are sad does NOT encourage a broken-hearted person, so I am not talking about smiling when you are hurt. I have already discussed the urgency of grieving and also working out any hard emotions. We talk to God, a close friend, a counselor, and we take our time to heal. But I am talking about a good day in which we are not suffering. On those days, I choose to smile as I read the joyful passages. And to me, any passage where God tells us what he does for us is also joyful. As I smile, I actually feel more joy.
I also discovered that if I let myself truly and deeply laugh (not resisting the laughter), I feel happier. But I might miss this joy, because I often rush through situations where my daughters are joyfully laughing. I might tell them, “Yes that is funny,” but often I don’t slow down and let myself really laugh with my girls. Again, according to more research, children laugh more often and more readily than most adults. Some claim this is just a myth, but I am a teacher and have worked with children from kindergarten to high school. I am also a mom of teens, and I have watched them from their earliest days to their teens. My girls laugh way more than their father and I do. These sweet gals can find the silliest reason to laugh. They also get physical. They might sneak up on me and either hug me or give me a tickle. They do this with each other too. They laugh so much. When I give myself permission to laugh with them, I can let go of my “inner critic.” That inner critic might say, “That was not very funny.” Or the critic in my head might say, “Get to work; you don’t have time to goof around.” But when I slow down and really listen to my girls and laugh with them (especially if I allow myself a very hearty, belly laugh), this brings me joy. And guess what? My girls feel joy too, because I valued what they said and did. My laughter is a gift to them too. We three enjoy the joy!
So here, I have captured the idea of emotional and spiritual joy, and even looked at the physical side of joy (pleasure.)
But regarding the physical side of joy, what if someone is very poor, or forced to go on a long term diet (for health) or sick or suffering in any other way? Can these people also find joy? I believe they can. Even in poverty or while forced to eat on a restricted diet, if there is any food you can afford that you enjoy, savor it. If you enjoy coffee, make sure you really smell it. Hold the mug in your hands (especially if you feel cold) and savor the feeling of its warmth. If you must eat more vegetables and are not restricted in salt, use sea salt generously, and add as many herbs and spices as you can. I buy basil, thyme and Italian seasoning (all organic) by the pound. Yes, by the pound. Over the years I had saved the glass containers these spices came in (not sure why I did) and then I realized I could use them to pour (using a funnel) into the bottles. I also really like tomato, so I can pour organic pureed tomato (it is just pure tomato that has been peeled, lightly cooked and pureed and then poured into a glass bottle) onto a big plate. Then I generously sprinkle sea salt onto the plate and cover the entire surface with those three herbs. Then I can add some canned salmon (I get Alaskan pink), and it tastes amazing. Only buy vegetables you really like. If you prefer raw, use a dip you really like. Never suffer if you are forced to eat less (whether for financial reasons or for a diet.) And remember, flowers are free for us to smell. If you walk by a garden and don’t have pollen allergies, stop and savor that smell. Essential oils can also help us to capture the sweet scents of nature and bring them into our homes.
The key to finding joy in any physical pleasures, even when life is hard, is to look for the pure (innocent) things you really enjoy, and use your 5 senses to savor them. If you have been lacking in joy, ask God to guide you, because God has richly blessed us in the physical world, and he wants us to enjoy those gifts.
We can rejoice when we do other things we deeply enjoy, whether it is surfing, taking a walk in nature, sipping really good tea, playing with our pet or talking with a dear friend. God wants us to enjoy this rich life. He loves to see us enjoying our life. And please don’t look at what Job went through (Old Testament) and think God took pleasure in Job’s suffering. God could use Job’s suffering to refine his character, but God wept with Job. I know it is true, because Jesus wept with Martha and Mary at Lazarus’s tomb (John chapter 11.) One day we will join the Lord for an eternity of joy without the suffering we currently need to refine our sinful character. Right now, on this imperfect earth, God wants us to enjoy the many gifts he gives us!
So whether we are rejoicing in God and thanking him for his goodness and provision or we are simply enjoying the rich food he gives us and the relationships with those we love, we can do it all to God’s glory. So never feel guilty about enjoying your life. You can choose joy, and no one has a right to shame you for your pleasure in this good life God has given you!
I pray we have blessed you today with this post about joy. Please let me know if you have any insights about joy, as I love to learn from my readers. May the Lord bless you this week! I feel joy knowing you joined us today.