We hear people say it, “choose joy” as if it is a thing readily available for the taking. Just reach out and grasp it and it’s yours to keep.
And some think they’ve found it in a nice house or pretty clothes or a fulfilling relationship, while others are just plain hungry for it.
We think we find joy in children’s laughter, walks on the beach, sunny days, a good book. We claim joy in date nights, a healthy bank account, a successful career or ministry, good health, full stomachs, any and all of those blessings we’ve counted up.
We look for joy always in all of the created things; we crave it.
But all of these things, even these people, they are are fleeting, friends: here today, gone tomorrow.
Any joy based on these moments, on temporary possessions or circumstances, is destined to pass.
When that happens, we feel cheated somehow, don’t we?
We feel let down. We may even wonder if something is wrong with us or question why the joy is gone. Have you been there before? When the sunshine suddenly turns to rain, when laughter turns to pain?
I have.
I’ve walked through seasons where joy seemed scarce and even counting my blessings, though they are many, wasn’t enough to satisfy my soul. I’ve found myself hungry for lasting joy, one not of this world.
True joy, lasting joy, comes from one source and one source only – the Father God who created us purely for love’s sake. His only Son took upon Himself the burden of the cross “for the joy set before him” so that we might have joy unspeakable.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Are you looking for it today, friend, the kind of joy that lasts through the hard times and back again, the kind that wells up from within, unstoppable?
Find joy in Jesus.
Jen 🙂
It’s Five Minute Friday again, so I’m joining up with the lovely ladies over at Lisa Jo Baker’s place for a stress-free, five-minute, free-write on a one-word prompt. Join us if you like!
Amen! Such a perfect reminder of the true joy in Christ.
Thanks for stopping by, Sarah! Come again soon.
Jen 🙂
Hi, Jen! This is a wonderful reminder of where we need to find our joy.
Thanks for stopping by, Misty!
Jen 🙂
You’re so right that our only true and lasting joy is found in the Lord. Everything else is open to change, but he is our firm foundation that will always be there for us!
Amen, Lisa!
Jen 🙂
I love this! And the image is so good. I want that kind of joy, deep within my soul! Thank you so much for the reminder to see that above it all 🙂 Glad to have come here from #TellHisStory. ~Jenna // A Mama Collective
I want it, too, Jenna! I want the kind of joy that lasts, even through the rough spots. Thanks for stopping by.
Jen 🙂
Jen, these are really good thoughts on Joy. It makes me think of a song we sung when I was a child.
Thanks, Judith!
Jen 🙂
Yes, yes…true joy only comes from Jesus. It is lasting stuff, the make-it-through-the worst-day-ever stuff. Great potluck post at The Loft today, Jen.
I loved the post you referenced in this post…”like a proud big brother”. What a great way to look at that. I need to be reminded of this all the time.
Oh yes Miss Kathy! The Joy unthinkable is not limited to the immediate world around us and once we find it is ours to keep. We will never want to be without it and thankfully when it seems to flee from us we will hunt it down because we know it isn’t about anything WE can do to attain it!
Thanks so much for the reminder!
I was just reading Weight of Glory by CS Lewis, and it is written well that we land short if we seek our joy in anything less. Something that we need constantly to remind ourselves of.
“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God
knows, even that is bounty enough. We
want something else which can hardly be
put into words—to be united with the
beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it
into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become
part of it. . . .—that,
though we cannot, yet these projections
can, enjoy in themselves that beauty grace,
and power of which Nature is the image.” ~CS Lewis
I don’t want only part. I want Him all! 🙂
Great post Jen
Great reminder, and so uplifting to remember that joy is in the person of Christ! It will never end! Thanks, Jen!