I have a good friend whose brother was driving home late one night. His brother ran a stop light and was broadsided by another car. He died. The family, as families often do at death, gathered together. As a pastor who has done funerals, grief is always hard when death is sudden. It's harder when it is the sudden death of a young person. When the family gathered together, my friend was wondering whether his faith would survive this experience. How do you believe in a God who allows or causes (depending on your theology) a young man to die suddenly and unexpectedly through a collision at an intersection? As they were gathered around in the middle of the night, mourning, the father did something strange - profound if you will. He put on a worship CD, turned the stereo up real loud, placed his hands on the speakers, and started singing praises to God. Just to rejoice in the midst of the sorrow. Rejoicing always.
In his
letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).
Even
during the worst situations, we need to follow Paul's instruction. "Whatever
is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things." The path to joy
isn't about creating an environment where everything good happens all the time.
The path to joy is a battle of perspective. God has done so much. There is so
much that is good that we experience. Yet we like being pathetic and we like to
wallow in the little bit of bad that's in our lives. Now, you may be saying
what I'm going through isn't just a little bit of bad. It's a big bit of bad.
Paul can
relate to a big bit of bad. Persecution. Imprisonment. Being stoned (with
stones). Going blind. Big, bad troubles. Paul was not a foreigner to big, bad
troubles. So his teaching to us to rejoice always comes from a man who knew
full well what it is to live through difficult circumstances. If it wasn't
difficult, he wouldn't need to teach it. I can't guarantee you much. But one of
the things that I can guarantee is that bad things will happen in your life.
Big, terrible, tragic things. Like the death of your loved one. Your death.
Crises of another sort. Bad things. Great, big, terrible, bad things will happen
in your life.
Which
makes it even stranger when we go to frivolous things to find a pseudo-joy. The
world successfully brainwashes us into the belief that joy is found in the next
gadget, the next pleasure, the next this or that. The next website. The next
show. The next book. These are all lies. Lies we often buy into. Joy is not
found in those things. Happiness is. Sometimes a very fleeting, temporary,
destructive happiness.
We may not be happy always, but our state of happiness does not correlate to whether we are right with God or now. We can cry and still be right with God. We can be heartbroken and still be with God. Joy is beyond the momentary feelings of happiness, and we need to learn to rejoice always.
Happiness has the same root word as happening - "happ". We don't have control over our happenings. But we can control whether we will rejoice in all circumstances.
We may not be happy always, but our state of happiness does not correlate to whether we are right with God or now. We can cry and still be right with God. We can be heartbroken and still be with God. Joy is beyond the momentary feelings of happiness, and we need to learn to rejoice always.
Happiness has the same root word as happening - "happ". We don't have control over our happenings. But we can control whether we will rejoice in all circumstances.
It is easy
for us to act like strong Christians when things are good. When we find a great
home for a great price. It's easy to act joyful. When have a new healthy baby. It's easy to be
joyful. When you receive an unexpected gift. It's easy to be joyful. Those are
all things I have experienced. And I am grateful for them, but the world
doesn't need Christians that are just happy when things are good. That's
confusing happiness with joy. The world needs Christians who are joyful all the
time. When things don't go our way. When friends or family die. When money
doesn't quite stretch far enough. When illness
strikes. When things aren't easy.
There is
one lie that I think destroys our joy more than anything. A prevalent lie in
the church in America. A lie that is spreading. A lie that we, as American
Christians, are quick to buy into. We think that God will always make
everything good for us. We think that He is our Santa Claus in the sky. That if
we are faithful and believe, then we will only experience great presents from
our heavenly Father. This is a lie. A lie of the most damaging sorts. And when
we buy into this lie, we struggle when things aren't good for us. John Piper
shared the following...
This week,
I couldn't help but watch the news. We have no shortage of stories that scare
us. Stories that make me fear that one day I may not be able to speak my mind
without possible repercussions. Then I remembered what I had already written
here in this article, what I had already shared with you here today: "The
path to joy is a battle of perspective."
I don't
want bad things to happen in America, but the news right now seems a little
overwhelming in regards to a scary future for America. The NSA spying on us,
and the person who informed us about it now being prosecuted as a spy. The IRS
targeting people it politically disagrees with. The Trans-Pacific Partnership,
a trade treaty that is being written in private, even classified from the eyes
of our Congressmen, that makes NAFTA look insignificant. It all frustrates me.
It worries me for the America my children will have to live in. But then the
word of God pulls me back in.
Paul also wrote the church in Philippi, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20 ESV).
Paul also wrote the church in Philippi, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20 ESV).
Our citizenship
is in heaven. This doesn't mean that we don't work for the oppressed, the
disenfranchised, the hurting people that surround us. This isn't an idea whose purpose
is to give us an off switch where we can say, "This world is crap, and we
don't have to do anything about it." Just the opposite is intended. We
need to bring about justice, righteousness,
and mercy. This idea should spur our passion because we believe in a better reality
and bringing about that reality from the home of our true citizenship into this
one. So when we struggle, fear, and worry about our future, we need to reset
our thinking. This place is not our home. Our citizenship is beyond our current,
temporal reality. We can find comfort in those truths and find motivation to
carry on.
 |
| Elsi meeting Avett for the first time. |
On
Wednesday, I drove Lindsay and Avett to the doctor in Defiance. We were halfway
there when I asked, "Did you bring the paperwork that we need the doctor
to fill out?" Because with a homebirth, we have extra paperwork that we
need our doctor to fill out and mail in to the health department. Paperwork that
a hospital usually takes care of behind the scenes.
Lindsay told me that she forgot. I became immediately frustrated. Here we were, more than halfway to Defiance without the paperwork that we needed our doctor to fill out. We could turn around and be a half hour late for our appointment or we could continue driving without the paperwork needed. Neither option was good. We decided, since we were close to the doctor and didn't want to be late for our appointment, that we would just finish the trip. I would drop her off then run back to town to get the paperwork. A wasted hour driving. Unnecessary wear and tear on our car. I calculated the cost. AHHHHH! Anyway, I was working on this piece that morning before leaving for the doctor, and this story that I am going to share with you right now helped me through the situation.
Lindsay told me that she forgot. I became immediately frustrated. Here we were, more than halfway to Defiance without the paperwork that we needed our doctor to fill out. We could turn around and be a half hour late for our appointment or we could continue driving without the paperwork needed. Neither option was good. We decided, since we were close to the doctor and didn't want to be late for our appointment, that we would just finish the trip. I would drop her off then run back to town to get the paperwork. A wasted hour driving. Unnecessary wear and tear on our car. I calculated the cost. AHHHHH! Anyway, I was working on this piece that morning before leaving for the doctor, and this story that I am going to share with you right now helped me through the situation.
Another
pastor shares the story.
"One day my wife, Cindy, refueled our car at a filling station in a Texas town. Instead of driving up to the self-service pump, she accidentally pulled up to full-service. She didn’t realize the luxury service cost an extra fifty cents per gallon until she paid for the gas. Later she told me how the station had hiked the prices on full-service.
That extra fifty cents per gallon surely has to be a violation of some federal law, I thought. I quickly calculated that the extra seven dollars she spent on full-service would have taken our vehicle 128.33 miles farther down the road if she had bought self-service gas. The “full-service gas station robbery” had me fuming for several hours.
As I was mulling over this terrible injustice, God showed me what I had done. I had sold my joy for seven dollars! I never realized how cheaply I would surrender something so valuable. Just as Esau exchanged his birthright for a bowl of soup, I exchanged my joy for seven dollars’ worth of gas.
At what price are you willing to sell your joy? (I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, 40-41)
So back to
my story about our trip to the doctor and Lindsay forgetting the paperwork. I
said to myself that I would not let having to drive for an extra hour ruin my
day. My joy isn't worth giving up for an hour. And it worked. Strangely, it
worked. And Lindsay says that it made her life better too when I decided to
have joy rather than fume about the situation.
And then,
as I drove back to Defiance after having dropped her off and picked up the
paperwork, I began to think about all of the things that we give up our joy
for. I get overly frustrated with life when our money doesn't stretch far
enough. I have been upset when Lindsay buys something that I don't think we can
afford. I've been upset when I found out I had cancer. I've been upset when our
twins died. I've been upset when my mower won't start (Now I have a new
electric mower and haven't had that problem). I've been upset when my wife
didn't get a job she applied for. When another kid has hurt my kid. I've been
upset over so many things. Things that weren't worth selling my joy for.
I'm sure you have had similar situations. Things we think are worth being upset over, yet it doesn't benefit us when we allow ourselves to fume. Fuming just takes away our joy. Which brings me back to the wisdom of Paul in teaching us to rejoice...always. We can have joy in every situation. It doesn't mean the lies of the prosperity gospel. It doesn't mean that we will always get what we want. It means that when we don't get what we want, we will choose to be content.
I'm sure you have had similar situations. Things we think are worth being upset over, yet it doesn't benefit us when we allow ourselves to fume. Fuming just takes away our joy. Which brings me back to the wisdom of Paul in teaching us to rejoice...always. We can have joy in every situation. It doesn't mean the lies of the prosperity gospel. It doesn't mean that we will always get what we want. It means that when we don't get what we want, we will choose to be content.
Joy. It's a
choice. And I want to choose joy. Joy in Jesus. Because He is the source of our
contentment. True joy.
Kay Warren,
the wife of Pastor Rick Warren, describes joy:
Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.
Do you remember when your mother used to say, "Don't eat candy before meals?" Why did she say that? Because she knew it would ruin your next meal. The trouble with eating candy is that it gives you a sugar buzz, and then you don't feel hungry. Candy masks the fact that your body needs proteins and vitamins. The sugar buzz from candy masks your hunger for the real nutrients that you need.
Things like sex, power, money, and success—as well as favorable circumstances—act like spiritual sugar. Christians who have these spiritual candies may say, "Sure, I believe in God and I know I'm going to heaven," but they're actually basing their day-to-day joy on favorable circumstances. When the circumstances change, it drives us to God, because when the sugar disappears, when the candy gets taken away, we're forced to pursue the feast that our souls really crave. We'll hunger for the spiritual nutrients we really need.
Joy isn't found at the end of the rainbow of fame
and money. Or even in the good things like family, friends, your job, or even
in the smile of a newborn baby. That's happiness. Those things can pass.
Tragically pass. Joy isn't found in your child getting a hit, winning a game,
reading a good book, watching a good show, or taking a good vacation. Again,
those things are happiness. Don't confuse joy and happiness. Happiness,
although appreciated, is fleeting. There is only one source of unfleeting joy.
Let's reread Paul's passage to the church in
Phillipi:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).
We want joy. But focusing on joy is not
how we get joy. Here are four tips from Paul from the section above on how to
get joy.
Joy is like a cake. If you're missing ingredients,
you don't have cake. No flour, no cake. No sugar, no cake. No egg, no cake. Oh,
you may be able to make a fake substitute. But that's not cake. Don't fool
yourself. The same is true with joy. If you're missing the ingredients to joy,
you don't have joy.
Paul points out four things that bring joy/peace.
Be Gracious. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone," Paul wrote. "Reasonableness." What is reasonableness? The original word (epieikés) means "sense of [being] truly fair by relaxing overly strict standards." It's gentleness. It's the idea of mercy and grace. It's giving people the benefit of the doubt. Being more gracious than fair. Being more loving than just.
Do you see others the way God sees them? People will fail you. They will disappoint you. But even with all their faults, they're still beautiful. Just like God views you with all of your faults. Joy is found in viewing others the way God views them, even when they fail you. Especially when they fail you. Being gracious in all situations.
It's easy to panic in a situation. It's easy to worry that maybe God doesn't want the same thing that we want. But it doesn't do us any good to be anxious. Give it up to God. Express your desire to Him. "Supplication" means "heart-felt petition, arising out of deep personal need." It's more than just checking off our prayer list. It's expressing our deep-felt desires. But after the prayer is said, we trust in Him for the future outcome. Joy is never found in worry. Joy is found in expressing our desires to the Lord and trusting in Him.
Be Positive. Paul said, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian
who was imprisoned for helping Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. In
her book, The Hiding Place, she writes about an incident that taught her the
principle of choosing a positive outlook in all situations.
Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned at Ravensbruck Camp. As a prisoner she faced horrible living conditions and found herself very bothered by the intense fleas in her barracks. She wrote:
Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned at Ravensbruck Camp. As a prisoner she faced horrible living conditions and found herself very bothered by the intense fleas in her barracks. She wrote:
“The barracks were extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read, in their tattered Bible, from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to rejoice in all things. Betsy said, 'Corrie, we've got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas.' Corrie replied, 'No way am I going to thank God for fleas.'"
But Betsy was persuasive, and they did thank God even for the fleas.
During the months that followed, they found that their barrack was left relatively unsupervised, and they could have a Bible study, talk openly, pray together, and not worry about being interrupted or experiencing something even worse from the guards. Their barrack was their only place of refuge. Several months later, they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas.
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Put on the attitude of Jesus. Joy is found in having a positive attitude, even with the fleas.
During the months that followed, they found that their barrack was left relatively unsupervised, and they could have a Bible study, talk openly, pray together, and not worry about being interrupted or experiencing something even worse from the guards. Their barrack was their only place of refuge. Several months later, they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas.
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Put on the attitude of Jesus. Joy is found in having a positive attitude, even with the fleas.
Be Practicing or Practice These Things. "What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Joy is found in actually living the right life. Not just knowing it.
Peace is a byproduct. A byproduct of our right relationship with Jesus. Joy leads to peace. Joy is found through being gracious to others, being prayerful, thinking positively, and living the life Jesus wants you to live.
Peace is a byproduct. A byproduct of our right relationship with Jesus. Joy leads to peace. Joy is found through being gracious to others, being prayerful, thinking positively, and living the life Jesus wants you to live.
Elton Trueblood, one of my favorite Christian
writers of the 20th century, said, "I don't trust the theology of any
person who doesn't laugh."
The other week, I was asked by an atheist why I became a Christian.
Much to the displeasure of the atheist, I became a
Christian, not because of intellectual arguments, but because I fell in love
with the view of the world that some Christians shared with me through their words
and living it. I went to college and fell in with the wrong crowd, a group of
Christians. This group of Christians was filled with joy and seemed to have a
different dream of the world. Now I believe that their different dream for the
world is the way that God wants this world. I want that world. I want the world
that Jesus teaches us to strive toward. I want His kingdom to come here on
earth as it is in heaven. It may sound crazy, especially to an atheist, but encountering
Christians filled with joy and living in hope is what brought me to Jesus. A
group of joyful Christians who were living differently in the world.
I may have logically went backward, starting at a
different place. I started at the point of action and experience and wanted the
thoughts that brought about that action and experience. My logic went,
"These people are living the life I want. This is the life I want. I want
what they have. What brings people to this life? What beliefs? What actions?
What habits?" This led me to Jesus and the church. Maybe if I would have
found a sacrificially loving group of atheists, my life would be different. But
I didn't. And I still haven't.
Discussions with atheists always come back to a
scientific argument. They want to argue creation or the reliability of
Scripture or something else. Those discussions have their place, but that isn't
what changes lives.
So when an atheist asks why we should assume God
if they believe physics and evolution can explain the world without Him. I
would say that it is because the God I believe in teaches us to love our
neighbors, love our enemies, and live sacrificially for others. Following God
brings joy. I find that beautiful. For an atheist, it may be irrational. For
me, it may just be irrational beauty. And those things can't be discovered
through evolution and physics.
Now, here is the dilemma. You may be feeling
guilty for being mopey. For not being as filled with joy as you should be. And
then you think, "I'm going to stop being mopey and start being joyful."
Well, first, don't beat yourself up so much. That's bad for your joy. Remember, when the wet blanket of joy sucking despair or depression begins to overwhelm to say, "Stop it. I choose Jesus. I choose joy."
Remember to view yourself the way that God views
you. And remember that joy is not something that we can just wish into
existence. It's not found by us just listening to motivational speakers and
willing it into our lives. It's a byproduct. It's found by being gracious to
others, through trusting God in all situations, and putting on Jesus. Grow more
into Jesus, and you will find that you are inhabited by the Holy Spirit that
brings joy as one of its fruits.
Choose joy. Choose Jesus.
Choose joy. Choose Jesus.
