There is a home in our neighborhood that displays a wonderful collection of mailbox flags and I love reading them on my walks. As I was passing by one day I saw this quote: The joy of the Lord is my strength. That certainly brought a smile to my face, and as I continued my walk, I began to meditate on those familiar words of scripture. What stood out to me the most were the words “joy” and “strength”, and how those two words relate to one another in the same sentence.
How does joy translate into strength? We normally associate joy with a relaxed, carefree, happy state of being. Or perhaps an effervescent elation over some type of event that is happening to us—such as a wedding, a new baby, or even a long-overdue vacation. When we are experiencing joy, it’s an indicator that good things are happening. So how does strength play a role in our joy?
A good example of the relationship between strength and joy is to look at the foundation of a healthy, thriving marriage. When you have a spouse that is one thousand percent behind you, who has your best interests at heart and is supportive in all that you do, it brings a deep and abiding joy in the knowledge that no matter what, they will always be there for you. You are able to lean into, and draw from, the strength of that kind of love; one that you can trust without question.
Jesus, our bridegroom, offers and bestows upon us this very same characteristic of deepest love. We could just as easily transpose this verse from “The joy of the Lord is my strength”, to say, “The strength of the Lord is my joy”! Our strength is derived from this reciprocating love that produces reciprocating joy. His strength enters in so that we can trust Him with every fiber of our being. We can know of His great and powerful love that gives us strength and brings us joy in abundance!
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. 1 Chronicles 16:27
There is another aspect of joy that I have witnessed many times through personal experience and through the experiences of others. Imagine you have just received some really great news—what is your immediate and overwhelming impulse? To share it! You are practically bursting at the seams to tell someone, so that you may rejoice together in this good fortune. Kept to ourselves, we may as well be on a deserted island. Our joyful response to good news is limited until it is shared. It is in the sharing of our news that our joys are multiplied! It is in the dynamics of sharing that we begin to experience the fullness of the blessing. And our blessings, in and of themselves, can also bring hope and encouragement to others. It’s the kind of rejoicing that can bring a strengthening of faith and a great thanksgiving.
While there are added layers of meaning to the passage, Jesus spoke of this very thing in the parable of the lost coin. A woman who has ten silver coins has lost one. She lights and sweeps and searches her house until it is found. Having found it, she immediately calls her friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”
What a beautiful picture of the common goodwill of man. That we can experience celebratory feelings of genuine happiness over someone else’s joy. That is the essence of loving our neighbor as ourself, not jealousy or resentment over what they might have that we don’t. We praise God for the gifts that He brings, whether for us, or for others.
We Christians have the most amazing Good News of all, and only through the sharing of it, do we all grow together into the full measure of the blessing God desires for us to receive.
Through my own personal experience I found that this same principle is also at work when our hearts are grieving loss. Grief has a way of shocking the body for our own protection . Our normal way of being and functioning comes to a nearly grinding halt. This enormous stressor on our bodily system is causing a bit of a shut down in order to reboot. Our minds cannot process or retain much information during this time. Our ability to concentrate is being challenged and we sometimes feel like we are going crazy—like when we can’t find our keys or glasses for the umpteenth time in one day! What energy we have is reserved for the simplest of tasks relating to survival. This overwhelming fog of grief is to me, a type of numbing anesthetic that gently protects us while we begin the slow process of healing.
The beginning of that healing process is knowing we cannot bear the burden of grief alone. We must have the stability of others to help carry us through such a devastating time in our life. This is perhaps one of the most necessary and comforting aspects of being surrounded by the body of Christ—the compassionate care from a body of believers being expressed through the love of Christ, himself. And slowly but surely, while weeping may endure for a night, or for many, many nights, we can know that eventually, joy does come with the morning; wrapping itself around us in a radiant love that permeates our minds and our hearts.
Through the strengthening presence of loving friends and a deeper connection with our Lord, our feet are getting back on solid ground. We are then equipped to become a healing help and hope for others because we have walked where they are now walking. In our joys and in our sorrows, we encourage and uplift one another. (See 2 Corinthians 1:4)
I found these wonderful words concerning joy that come from The Bible Hub website:
Joy is rooted in who God is. It is not a fleeting emotion or based on circumstances. Worldly possessions, accomplishments, even the people in our lives, are blessings that make us happy and fuel joyfulness. However, the Bible teaches that the source of all joy is Jesus. God’s plan from the beginning, the Word made flesh to dwell among us is rock solid, allowing us to navigate difficult situations in the absence of happiness while sustaining our joy.
Joy is a major recurring theme across the pages of our Bibles. Between the Old and New Testaments, the words joy/joyful/joyous are mentioned 234 times! Joy is central to our spiritual well-being, and grows out of a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ. One of Jesus’ greatest desires is for us to live in His love and to be filled with His joy, so that we may experience completeness. Our joyfulness is His priority!
Speaking to His disciples…I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
“The brightness of that joy lit up the darkest hours of His own human life, and He wills that it should light up theirs. In the consciousness of their love to God, and of God’s love to them, there would be in them, as part of their true life, joy which no sorrow could ever overcome.” (*)
Nothing else can take the place of carrying the joy of the Lord deep within our hearts. Nothing else can fill us in the way that He does, and nothing else is needed, for through Him we are being made complete; there is no lack or need within us that is beyond our reach. We are able to navigate any situation that may come our way because He equips us. It’s been said that joy is not the absence of darkness. Joy is confidence that the darkness will lift.
The Gospel of John, chapters 14-17, has much to say about the role Jesus plays in our love and safety, in our grief and joy, in our ultimate purpose and our mutual destination. He details all of this to His disciples and ultimately to us, so that we can know the true joy of our relationship with Jesus, which is the same joy that Jesus shares with His Heavenly Father—even in His darkest hour.
As He prays to the Father, Christ utters these words…I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. John 17:13
“A joy was set before him, the joy of perfect self-sacrifice, which gave to his present acts an intensity and fullness of bliss. It was this, in its motives and character and supernatural sweetness, which would be in them. If they receive his life into them, it will convey not only his peace, but that peace uprising and bursting into joy; and he adds, in order that your joy may be fulfilled, i.e. perfected, reach its highest expression, its fullness of contents and entire sufficiency for all needs.” (**)
It makes me happy to think about the joy Christ experienced while on this earth; for He knew all too well his human end that was to come. Yet there must have been days of such joy—with the children, the disciples, the healings and miracles, the weddings and feasts; with wine being poured and laughter spilling out, and the time He spent with family and friends. He laughed, sang praises and watched sunsets He created, celebrating life right along with us. Yet always, always, carrying within Him the eternal joy of his relationship with Abba, his Father.
There is a reason God does not allow us to know our tomorrows the way Jesus did. What a burden it would become. We would not be able to live expectantly, or to even trust for a different outcome. Because of Jesus, our futures are free for the taking. Jesus knew from the very beginning how he would die; how that must have haunted His thoughts at times. Yet His greatest concern was not for Himself, it was for us! What better reason could there be for our rejoicing?!
I remember reading the book, Sunday Dinner, by William Willimon. He had a very interesting take on how we celebrate Communion. Typically, it is a very quiet and somber occasion. He pointed out that considering the great and awesome wonder of what Christ did, the enormity of the sacrifice He made for the entirety of mankind, that if they so desire, anyone and everyone is included in His forgiveness, and are welcomed to The Table—based on all of that, we should be bouncing our way up the aisle to the altar with exuberant joy! There should be smiles and raised hands, clapping and shouts of hallelujah’s. I know that holy reverence for our Lord and a contrite spirit on behalf of those receiving are the order of the day, but still, he makes a good point. Just once, I would love to celebrate Communion that way.
Everything that matters begins and ends with Jesus. From bringing us great tidings of joy at His birth, to not leaving us helpless and alone at His departure. He promised He would send us a helper, a comforter, to guide us in all of our ways. While Jesus dwelt “among us”, we would soon be receiving the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word used to denote this Holy Spirit of the living God is “Paraclete”, which also means “strength”.
The joy of the Lord is our strength…
His joy becomes ours and our joy takes up residence in the One who found us worthy of saving. This pleases Him greatly.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Phillipians 4:4
(*) (**) Selected excerpts from Bible Hub-Pulpit Commentary.