SO MANY BELIEVERS are saved but sad. Anointed, but burned out. Sometimes I think we are sad saints. Yet we are not called to live a depressed life. We are called to live a joy-filled life. There’s an unshakeable joy of the Lord that stands firm, no matter what goes on around us. Let’s take a closer look at it.
The joy of the Lord …
… is the result of our connection to the Heavenly Father, who lives on the inside of us. Because of this connection, we can experience joy even in our greatest trials. John 16:33 says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (NKJV). Jesus is saying, “Don’t worry about it. You can be cheerful and have peace because you have Me.” Happiness is a response to the conditions around us; joy comes from within. We will face unhappiness in life, but because of Jesus, we can experience joy in the midst of our battles.
… is not a hype. It’s holiness. It’s a fruit of the Spirit-filled life (Gal. 5:22). Sometimes life gets hard, and we have to choose joy by faith. It’s not always a dance or song. Dancing, shouting, and laughing are all great, but they are a result of being joyful. In James 1:2–4, we read, “when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (NLT). When we choose to be joyful in our trials, we develop endurance. And endurance keeps us from lacking anything.
We need to get out our joy umbrella. Let’s open it and let it cover us.
… is the greatest weapon in our God-given arsenal. We need to pull out our joy when we’re facing problems. The armor of God gives us many tools to defeat the enemy. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Instead of letting him devour us, we have to be on guard and use our joy as a weapon. We need to learn how to express our joy because no one ever won a spiritual battle with their mouth closed. Like Paul and Silas in prison, we can sing hymns and pray to God (Acts 16:25). The two apostles had a great opportunity to choose joy in the midst of their trial. They wisely chose to wield the spiritual weapon of joy. Remember, joy shifts our focus from our problems to God. When we change how we see what’s going on around us, we will see miracles happening on the inside of us. We don’t fight life’s battles empty-handed. We fight them with joy.
… covers us like oil. In Hebrews 1:9, it says: “Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else” (NLT). What does oil do? It coats and causes things to roll right off. I like to imagine that God in Heaven has a huge jar of joy. And when we spend time in His presence, He tips the jar, and oil starts pouring over us from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. That way, we are covered in the oil of joy. When people say something rude, trying to get us depressed, the oil of joy makes those hurtful comments slide right off. Depression can’t stick to us—it slides right off. Lack, anxiety, and panic cannot stick to us because we’re coated in God’s joy. But we need to stay coated. Joy overflows in the presence of the Lord. It doesn’t come from escape; it comes from an encounter with God. That’s why it’s so important that we seek Him all the time.
… is the very foundation of our salvation. In Psalm 51:12, we read, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (NKJV). When we get saved, we get filled with joy. Joy is the evidence that we have Jesus in our lives. It is the outward manifestation that we are still connected to the root of our salvation. Not having joy is a connection problem. When we’re connected to the vine, we will have joy (John 15:5; Gal. 5:22). It doesn’t matter if our soul and body fight us on this—ultimately, our spirit man on the inside of us has to choose joy. If we have our salvation by faith, we have our joy by faith. And as faith without works is dead, we have to put action to our joy.
Joy is like an umbrella that we carry around with us all the time. It would be silly if we held it in our hand and when it started pouring, we just stood there saying, “Help! I’m getting all wet. What am I going to do?” We only need to open the umbrella, and we won’t get rained on anymore. This is our joy. We constantly carry it around on the inside. And when those problems start raining down on us, we can choose to activate our joy and open our umbrella. Does the umbrella stop the rain? No. But it protects us. That way, anxiety, depression, and sadness just slide right off. Those difficulties can’t get on us because we are covered by the joy of the Lord. We need to get out our joy umbrella. Let’s open it and let it cover us.
Author
Denise Hagin Burns
Share this Post