Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We have been considering the link between joy and affliction. Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 1:6, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” It is always good to have the full facts about any story or on any issue. For example, Acts 13:52 says, “And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” If we did not have any further information, we would assume that a good time was had by all – and we would be wrong. Acts 13:50-51 tells us that the missionary duo of Paul and Barnabas were persecuted and then expelled from the city of Antioch of Phrygia. This opposition followed significant success in the spread of the Gospel. We might wonder why these two were not protected by God such that they could stay, but they did not wonder. Rather, they saw both the reception of the Gospel by some and the violent rejection of the message by others as confirmations from God that their ministry was effective. Thus, their joy remained intact. The radio preacher Theodore Epps used to worry when he did not get hate mail; perhaps we do not need that level of opposition, but his outlook is instructive. The work of God continues, and in that labor is joy.