Joy-Strength
I’ve been trying to write this post about our February calendar page for weeks, but have felt low on strength and low on joy, and therefore low on words. (God always seems to show me my weakness before He gives me something to say!)
The struggle is often that what I really want, and I think if we’re honest what we all want — is joy handed to us on a silver platter.
I’ll be joyful when I get a better job, when I stop fighting with my spouse, when my sister starts talking to me again, when I get a bigger house, when this medical diagnosis changes— you fill in the blank.
It may not seem like it now, but feeling happier because circumstances change the way I want them to is a cheap exchange for the joy of the Lord that nothing, no circumstances, can take from us.
True joy springs up in the unlikeliest of places.
Take our verse from Nehemiah for example:
When Nehemiah declared to the Israelites, “The joy of the Lord is your strength,” the people had just finished rebuilding the wall around their decimated city, facing such persistent attacks that they had to build with one hand while the other hand held a weapon for the defense of their lives. They’d just heard the law read to the them, the law they’d abandoned, leading to their destruction. Filled with the gravity of where their choices had brought them, they wept. I don’t blame them — that seems like the right response to me!
Yet Nehemiah says, “Don’t weep!” This day is holy! Let’s celebrate! Our wall is rebuilt and we are returning to everything that will bring us peace, prosperity, and God’s blessing. The joy of the Lord is your strength!” The people rightly responded with repentance, God was bringing restoration, and it was time for joy to flow. Joy was needed to rebuild their life a new and better way.
Or what about John 15, when Jesus, knowing He’s about to die and after that leave this earth, prepares his disciples for their coming trials. He knew they would be persecuted, many of them martyred, and they’d have to face these things without His physical presence. And He tells them, “These things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (vs. 11)
This unexpected joy in the midst of trials is demonstrated later by His followers, Paul and Silas, singing in jail, wounds from being beaten fresh on their bodies. Strength comes from joy, from the kind of joy that only God can ignite. Joy that springs up in a rotting prison, building spiritual strength that crumbles the prison, frees all the captives, and brings the jailer and his whole family to faith. (You can find this story in Acts 16)
Does all this seem crazy to you? It should, because it is.
Joy is not a feeling, not an emotion, not even a character trait. It’s a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a perspective that God gives us when we welcome His presence, tune in to His heartbeat, hear His voice.
Joy cannot be manufactured. It can only be received, when we are ready to let go of our very legitimate weeping and instead look with eyes of faith, like Nehemiah, like Paul and Silas, at the bigger picture of what God might be doing.
This painting is featured in my 2025 calendar, and is also available as a fine art print. Leave me a comment below if you’d like a print!
