This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled Extreme Devotion, compiled by the Voice Of the Martyrs. In the following passage, the account of an imprisoned Pastor (a Romanian Christian) provides us with fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
You will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:22)
"It is amazing how you can see Jesus in the face of other believers. Their faces shine, and it was quite an achievement for the glory of God to shine on the face of a Christian in Communist jails. We did not wash--I had not washed for three years--but the glory of God shone even from behind the crust of dirt. And they always had triumphant smiles on their faces," wrote an imprisoned pastor.
"I know of other Christians who were released from Communist prisons, such as I was. Like them, I was stopped several times on the street by passersby asking, 'Sir, what is it in you? You look like such a joyful man. What is the source of your joy?' I told them it came from many years in Communist jails suffering for my Savior."
"They could not understand this because they could not think beyond the difficulties of their own lives. They had not learned to walk in the Spirit and to experience the presence of God. Many would think, 'If only you knew what a life I have--a husband who batters me, a wife who nags, and children who break my heart.' There are many material difficulties and tempests in your soul. But what of them? How are they to compare with the joy of knowing Jesus?"
FURTHER: What Jesus gives, no one can take away. He gives us joy in the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. And though our circumstances may grow dim and dark, our joy still shines. Even the darkest dirt from three years in a Communist prison cannot disguise Christian joy. We are not necessarily happy for our affliction. We are not glad for our sorrow. Yet we remain joyful because of Christ's presence within our sorrows. Have you lost your sense of joy? You realize no one can take your joy from you. If it is missing from your life, it is because you willingly gave it up on account of your circumstances. Ask God to restore your joy in Him today.
A moment of consideration: Much has already been written about pure joy, happiness vs joy, what a future--what a Joy, and welcoming difficulties with joy, etc. One gets the correct impression, that there is much to learn about the joy that comes with the morning, following the weeping preceding it. (Psalm 30:5Psalm 126:5) The worldly competitors of joy are pleasure, happiness and fun. None of these three can compare, though, to the abiding joy of faith. Joy is not the same as pleasure or happiness. A wicked and evil man may have pleasure, while any ordinary mortal is capable of being happy. Pleasure generally comes from things, and always through the senses; happiness comes from humans through fellowship. Joy comes from loving God and neighbor. Pleasure is quick and violent, like a flash of lightning. Joy is steady and abiding, like a fixed star. Pleasure depends on external circumstances, such as money, food, travel, etc. Joy is independent of them, for it comes from a good conscience and love of God. Joy is more like an attitude, while fun is something we can—and should—plan. The fun times can contribute to the joy, but joy goes much deeper. I have a peaceful joy knowing that whatever I’ll face in life, the Lord will be there with me. When you know that Immanuel, or even one other person understands and cares how you feel, you can face anything more easily.
Our circumstances sometimes are brought on because of something we've said or done; at other times, they result from our actions or those of others. Sometimes they are imposed upon us through the kindness or cruelty of others; whatever the cricumstances are, we Believers can be confident and respond with joy. Joy persists when happiness fails and fades. The Bible talks plentifully about joy, but it nowhere talks about a "happy Christian." Happiness depends on circumstances, on what happens; joy does not. Remember, Jesus Christ had joy, and He prayed "...that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." (John 17:13) Remember that joy comes through loving God and one's neighbors. Psalm 21:6 reminds us that, "…for you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence." Henry Fielding (English novelist and dramatist, ca 1707-1754) felt that "great joy, especially after a sudden change of circumstances, is apt to be silent, and dwells rather in the heart than on the tongue."
The Romanian pastor found, though, that joy though often silent yet manifests itself in "triumphant smiles", radiant visage, and outward attractiveness. Many people, as the pastor continued, cannot comprehend joy; their difficulties in life overshadow their thoughts; "they had not learned to walk in the Spirit and to experience the presence of God." They had not gotten beyond the weeping--to experience the joy of God's presence throughout the circumstance. Practicing the presence of God keeps us in touch with the loving God in Whom we can abide. For the average person in this world, Henry Ward Beecher described the fleetingness of joy: "There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousand truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away."
In the passage that follows--"The grapevines are dying. The new wine is bad. People who were happy are now sad. They have stopped showing their joy. The happy music from the drums and harps has ended." (Isaiah 24:7-8, ERV)--is described the loss of circumstantial happiness. When the circumstances we experience bring us pleasure, happiness and/or fun, that's what the world has to offer. In Acts 5:41, we are told that "…they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." As the pastor above asks, how are our troubles and circumstances to [possibly] compare with the profound joy of knowing Jesus? Joy survives such suffering and losses, as it is based on our relationship with God. He is steadfast in His love, faithful in our relationship, abiding in His care. Let's look beyond the circumstance to see the God beyond. The presence of distress, or loss of happiness, does affect us but we can live with eternal perspective in any moment.
In the insightful words of Elton Trueblood (a noted 20th-century American Quaker author and theologian, former chaplain both to Harvard and Stanford universities):
"The Christian is joyful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate. The humor of the Christian is not a way of denying the tears, but rather a way of affirming something which is deeper than tears." Yes, a few things in life are absolutely tragic, no question about it. First among them, a joyless Christian. Christians, it is your duty not only to be good, but to shine; and, of all the lights which you kindle on the face, joy will reach farthest out to sea, where troubled mariners are seeking the shore. Even in your deepest griefs, rejoice in God. As waves phosphoresce, let joys flash from the swing of the sorrows of your souls.
This awesome gift of joy that is ours in Christ is to be reflected through our lives so that people around us can see it and be attracted by it. Unfortunately, though, all too often Christians give off a pretty joyless image. We act as though life in this world and the people around us are to be endured, not enjoyed. This is a lived-out heresy that completely distorts the Christian way of life. The joy of the Lord is meant to be contagious--as it shows through the Christian's life and experience, it is meant to be a powerful witness to the grace of God.
Let us show forth our awesome gift of joy, "for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17) In this may we agree with Romans 15:13: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."