BLOG - What brings you joy? Is it getting coffee in bed or seeing your child reach a milestone in their life?
Whatever it may be, we all experience some sort of joy in our lives. No matter how small it seems.
Ezra knew a certain genuine joy. And he said this to the people of Jerusalem: “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
What does this mean? How can the joy of God be our strength? Somehow I thought I knew what it meant, but as I ventured deeper into this truth, I found myself completely confused and lost as to what Ezra really meant in Nehemiah 8:10.
What is joy?
There are numerous definitions of the word, joy. Personally, Bible Study Tools best describes it for me: “Joy is the product of something great.” If joy is the product, the aftermath of something, then how do you produce joy, a joy that never runs out?
Psalm 11:11 reads: “In thy presence there is fullness of joy.” Not only can we experience true joy to the full, but every time we are in the presence of God, we cannot but be overwhelmed with joy!
Real, genuine joy comes from spending time with God. In other words, intimate fellowship with our Father produces a state of being, where we are filled to capacity with true joy. There is no room for more joy. Can you honestly look at your life and say there was a time where you had an abundance of joy, where you had no more space for more?
Joy is contagious
When we lived in Namibia, our church had a project involving the elderly people.
Families would put things in a box, things they felt were prophet, ranging from cookies to soap to encouraging words.
Our youth would then collect these boxes and give them to the elderly, blessing them. I would never forget their worn faces turning from confusion into joy as they discovered the small treasures inside.
There was one lady in particular; her children were living overseas and no one visited her. As we got to know her more, she started to cry. In that moment, she felt important, for someone had taken the time to sit with her and she was not forgotten.
The reason I am telling you this story is I want to ask you the question: How do you think she felt after we left? I believe as we walked away she was full of joy.
That one visit filled her with a joy she did not have when we walked in. Now how long did that joy last? I do not know. What I do know is spending time with a complete stranger brought not only joy to her, but to us as well.
Seeing the lady joyful made me joyful. God loves it when we make time for Him. Fellowship with us is what He wants; it brings joy to Him.
When we leave the presence of God, we feel refreshed, happy, and joyful. I wonder if it is His joy we are experiencing.
If you are standing in smoke, you start to smell like smoke, because the smoke permeates your clothes. Spending time with the One where true joy is, you are bound to get some in you. Think about it. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. God is the very source of joy! Does it make sense?
The result of joy
What happens when you are joyful? We see God’s goodness more clearly; everything seems perfect, as if nothing is wrong, as if all the problems are gone.
The big things seem so small to you in comparison to before spending time with God. That joy gives us strength to face this now “small” hill.
This is what it means when Ezra said the joy of God is our strength. - From the blog, Uncovering, by Shantel, aged 16, of Mossel Bay (https://uncoveringscom.wordpress.com/)
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