The Joy of Faith
Greetings KIC Lubowa!
I have written a devotion titled ‘The Joy of Faith’.
I am particularly aware but also weary of the stresses of the season we find ourselves in. We are bombarded with bad news so consistently that sometimes you wonder if there’s any good happening out there. The increasing number of COVID infections and deaths as well as the impact on our economy is worrisome among many other challenges in our society that I would rather not get into here. Yet, it is in times like these that I sense the Holy Spirit inviting us into the joy of the Lord.
Joy is one of the hallmarks of the Christian Life! Nehemiah 8:10 describes the joy of the Lord as our strength. Joy is fuel for the Christian journey, and just as we carefully monitor the fuel gauge on the dashboards of our vehicles, we need to pay close attention to the joy gauge of our hearts.
My testimony – I was raised in a religious family and we would go to church regularly, at least the kids had to, but I never had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Towards the end of primary school, I heard of a new church that had been opened close to our school community and for the next couple of Sunday mornings, I listened with envy to their vibrant celebration of God. My friend and I decided to escape from boarding school to attend a church service at this new place; I had never been among people so full of hope and joy in my entire life despite the fact that I had been a regular church goer! I wanted what they had; and I must say the people in this church did not particularly have much in the natural! I committed my life to Christ at the end of that service, glory to God.
Joy has largely been defined as an emotion evoked by the well-being, success, good fortune or the prospect of possessing of what one desires or a feeling of great pleasure or happiness. Biblical joy is much more than that!
Paul in Philippians 4:4 writes: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’ (NIV) What is particularly interesting is that Paul writes this epistle from prison and yet the word joy and rejoice are mentioned about 16 times in this epistle. What was Paul’s secret? How could he possibly be encouraging believers to rejoice when he himself was experiencing life-threatening circumstances? In 2 Corinthians 4:17 he writes: ‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.’ It is interesting that Paul calls his affliction light! The same Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 expounds on these light afflictions – stoning, imprisonment, shipwrecks, perils in wilderness, hunger and thirst, several beatings!
Another peculiar example of joy in trying circumstances from the life of Paul is in Acts 16:16-40: Paul and Silas are arrested for healing a girl possessed with the spirit of divination, they are beaten and placed in the inner jail. Paul and Silas, rather than complain about the injustice they suffered, resort to rejoicing in the Lord with singing. You know how that story ends! We see similar examples in the lives of believers in the early church in Acts 5:41 and Acts 7. Why were these men and women able to stay joyful despite their hardships?
Their Joy, I am convinced, can be attributed to WHO and WHAT they believed.
WHO
Biblical joy hinges on a deep delight in the person of Christ and a consequent choice to respond to external circumstances with contentment. Philippians 4:4a gives us the secret, Rejoice IN THE LORD always. If you take the Lord out of the equation of life, then perhaps the command to rejoice at all times is a tall order. A joyful Christian is one that is fully satisfied in Christ and Christ alone. Jonathan Edward writes:
The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied… Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends are but shadows, but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.
Ps 16:11: (ESV) ‘You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’
1 Chronicles 16:27: (AMP) ‘Splendour and majesty are [found] in His presence, strength and joy are [found] in His place (sanctuary)’
The more we learn to sit at the feet of our heavenly Father, bask in his presence and grow in our intimacy with him, the more joy we will be able to experience and share with our world.
WHAT
The other key to a life of joy is holding on to the Word of God – His promises and testimonies and counting Him faithful to perform His word. 2nd Corinthians 1:20 (KJV): ‘For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us.’ Let us consider some key promises for the times we live in:
I’ll never leave you nor forsake you - Hebrews 13:5, I’ll be with you no matter what you go through - Isaiah 43:1-2, I’ll be with you till the end of time - Mathew 28:20
I go back to my Father to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me forever - John 14:3
I’ll not leave you as orphans but I will send you the Holy Spirit (Comforter, Helper) - John 14:16-18, 15:26-27, 16:7
The church in Acts held on to these promises and lived with eternity in mind, that’s why they could rejoice even in the face of death. Paul in Philippians 1:21 (KJV) says ‘For me to live is Christ, to die is gain’!! No wonder Paul and the church in Acts could rejoice in the face of adversity! I am not yet there, but I want to live with such conviction!
Ps 119:111 (ESV) ‘Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.’ The Hebrew root word translated as testimony here means to ‘do again’ or ‘repeat’. It is important that whenever we turn the pages of the Bible and come across these stories of the powerful acts of God, we remember that these miracles/acts are now part of our heritage as children of God. God wants to repeat these acts – releasing from demonic oppression, multiplying food, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring relationships and so on in our lives today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Therefore, whenever we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, our response should be, ‘God’s done it before, He will do it again’ and then rejoice in advance for the powerful testimony He’s weaving through our circumstances.
I would also like to challenge us to revisit our own testimonies regularly, enter into thanksgiving and draw encouragement from the faithfulness of God in our lives. Psalm 78 is an account of the mighty acts that God performed among the nation of Israel, and sadly, their continuous rebellion towards Him. The reason – ‘they soon forgot his works and wonders he had shown them.’ (vs 10 -11) In cultivating a lifestyle of joy, we must develop the habit of setting up memorials – reminders of what God has done in our lives and revisiting them often. Turn off the ‘Ten Spies News Network’ for a change and instead use that time to count your blessings.
Let us continually ponder the dreams, visions, and the calling of God for our lives. Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) says ‘looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ Jesus was only able to endure such suffering because his mind was on the assignment for which he had come to earth, to redeem mankind from the clutches of sin and restore us back into relationship with our heavenly Father. We were his joy; we were his prize!
Another key to maintaining joy as believers is to pray in the Spirit (tongues) often. 1 Corinthians 14:4 and Jude 1:20 highlight the importance of doing so – building up ourselves in our faith.
The world longs for an encounter with the Living God, and one of the most powerful witnesses the world can have, is a believer who remains joyful even in the midst of trials. Remember Paul and Silas in jail? Their rejoicing led to salvation for the jailer and his entire family, and who knows how many prisoners. My encounter with a group of joyful believers - who in the natural had no business rejoicing - impacted my decision to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour of my life.
If ever the World needed the witness and testimony of Christian people, it is at the present time. The world is unhappy, it is distracted and frightened, and what it needs is to see stars shining out of the heavens in the midst of the darkness, attracting the world by rebuking that darkness, and by giving it light, showing how it too can live that quality of life. D Martyn Lloyd-Jones
As we continue to navigate this season with all its ups and downs, I would like to challenge us to examine our lives and ask: Am I a joyful Christian? Does my life infuse others with joy and hope? If I were put among a group of distressed people, would I stand out or would I simply fit in? I am not in any way making light of the suffering in this life nor the present trials we might be facing, but rather challenging us to pursue a deeper intimacy with the Lord and His Word that no matter how tough life gets, we can still live with hope and rejoice in the Lord always.
Let’s pray: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NKJV)
Blessings upon blessings!
